Quick tips for making your first home eco friendly

Quick tips for making your first home eco friendly

 

Moving into your first home is an exciting time – and often (especially during those first few months) budget can be a bit of an issue! Usually, with a new home, lots of things need doing, fixing and adjusting – so there may not necessarily be room in the budget for big eco friendly adjustments such as solar panels.

So, with first-time buyers and new home movers in mind we’ve put together some fantastic tips and tricks for saving energy and becoming more eco friendly on a budget. These little tips and trick can be done cheaply – but can also make a huge difference to household bills and energy friendly ratings.

So here we go….

 

1. Insulate your attic with recycled materials

It’s amazing how much heat can be lost through poorly insulated walls and attics – so make sure you’re has been insulted properly to save yourself energy in the heating department. You don’t need to hire a professional to insulate, it can be done over an afternoon by yourself – using old recycled materials you may already have around the house too. For a step by step guide on how to do it, take a read of this Wiki How article where there are suggestions of materials to use and lookout for too.

 

2. Change your light bulbs

We all know that a eco friendly light bulb is better than the alternative – not only does it last longer (saving you money) but it uses up less energy too. However, if you really want to do it like a pro, instead of just picking up any eco friendly bulb next time you’re in the supermarket – take a look at more specialist retailer online – where you can compare and contrast the bulbs, and where about in the house they’re going to work best, this is how you’re going to save the most money and energy possible.

 

 3. Have a window garden for herbs and spices

Not only to window gardens and balcony gardens look cute and adorable – they can save huge amounts of plastic and waste. Stop buying herbs and spices every week from the shops – and grow your own where possible!

 

 4. Buy second hand and reuse furniture

It’s not always necessary to buy furniture new from shops like Ikea. Instead head up to your local charity shop and see if you can re-use or repurpose anything they have in there instead. Whilst researching this article I found a great Pinterest board, dedicated to inspiring creative repurposing – so take a look there for inspiration!

 

5. Add thick curtains, instead of blinds

Blinds look great and are very fashionable, but they don’t keep the heat in a house very well – so it may be worth investing in some thick curtains during the winter months. They will be worth the investment – as they’ll save you a lot of money of electricity and heating bills whilst you have them up. They can actually work to keep rooms cool too in the summer – so you can avoid those big air con bills!

 

 6. Buy an eco-kettle

For many families – the kettle is used more than anything else in the house (not surprising really, is it!) so if you’re like me, and you use your kettle a lot too, maybe an investment in an eco friendly kettle would be a good move. There are many affordable eco-friendly on the high street, a quick Google search will show you.

 

 7. Dry your clothes outdoors or on radiators

Ditch that tumble dryer right now – as it’s going to be making your energy bills huge! In the winter, dry your clothes on a clothes dryer, hung next to a radiator. In the summertime, install yourself a washing line and hand your clothes out to dry outside. You’ll find it’s actually a really quick way of drying things, especially on a sunny day!

 

Quick tips for making your first home eco friendly