Going green with your home improvements has a dual benefit for you as a homeowner: not only will you have the peace of mind of knowing you are keeping the environment safe from pollutants, but you will also save big money on your energy bills from everything you have installed.
Of course, if we left it at that, we would be offering misleading information. The truth is that making eco-friendly home improvements might cost you a bit of extra money, more than traditional building materials would run you.
Luckily, home improvement financing is readily available to homeowners in the Northeastern United States from Homeowner Funding. Whether you need vinyl siding financing or something else, we are here to work with you and make your renovations easy.
Once you’ve secured funding, you may actually have to stop again to think about how your home would benefit from green improvements.
That’s why we’re here: to explain the most important steps of going green with your home.
Consider Why You’re Doing This
People go green for many reasons. You’re benefiting the environment no matter what, but knowing why you’re remodeling your home in these specific ways will help to direct you.
Maybe you just want to do your part for the environment by outfitting your house with a tankless hot water heater, sustainable bamboo flooring, cool roof, or low-flush toilets.
Or perhaps you’re really looking to cut down on your monthly energy bills by investing in this green technology. Sure, the price tags for some of these things might seem intimidating, but what you’ll save over time will ultimately pay for the installation.
Or it could be that you just want to bump up your home’s value for a future buyer. Maybe you live in a neighborhood that is slowly transforming into a green area and you want to make your home particularly desirable for resale.
Whatever benefits you enjoy now from your energy savings will be passed along to another buyer, and people will probably be willing to pay a steep price for a home like that.
Divide Up Your Green Projects by Category
When it finally comes time for you to start your green home improvements, it might help to divide up your efforts by area, as in, the type of energy to be saved.
Water
For instance, if you focus on water savings first, you might first look at an improvement such as a tankless water heater.
Unlike standard tanked water heaters, tankless heaters heat your water on demand for you. You heat only the water you’re about to use. You will never run out of water, but you’re also using only what you need, so there is no extra water just sitting there in a tank.
Tankless water heaters are more expensive to install but will save you water and heating costs over time.
Then, there are low-flush toilets that, just as they sound, save water by using significantly less water with every flush. For instance, say an older toilet uses 3 to 7 gallons of water in a single flush. A low-flush toilet might use less than 2 gallons in a flush.
That’s cutting down on water usage in your home but also saving water in the environment. Low-flush toilets, when properly maintained, could last you 30 years or more and add a ton to your home’s resale value.
Heating and Cooling
When we’re talking about making green home improvements, everybody’s going to be concerned about heating and cooling.
Maybe you live in a region that’s always hot or somewhere where the winters are especially harsh.
If your worst nightmare is feeling too hot or cold in your own home, and you want to rectify those problems in an environmentally friendly way, here are some options.
Cool roofs are at the cutting edge of temperature-regulating technology today. Cool roofs use reflective shingles or paint to reflect sunlight back out and ultimately absorb less heat. A cool roof can stay 50 degrees cooler on a hot summer day than the standard roofs of older homes. That means you’ll keep your house cooler and require less air conditioning.
A programmable thermostat is another great addition when it comes to heating and cooling costs. Being able to set your home’s temperature beforehand or from a distance will save you lots of money by using less natural gas, electricity, or whichever energy source you use. You can turn down the heat or cooling when you’re sleeping or away from home for accumulating cost savings over time.
And by the way, to cut down on your electricity usage even more, look into having solar panels installed on your roof. They will capture the sun’s energy and convert it into electricity you can use. You can also apply for federal tax credits for having solar panels installed.
Energy Star-Rated Materials
Finally, you can add to your home’s minimalist green footprint by installing Energy Star-rated appliances. The Energy Star status is a designation given by the United States Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Energy for appliances that are more energy-efficient than standard appliances.
For instance, you can get Energy Star televisions, refrigerators, water heaters, washers and dryers, HVAC systems, light bulbs, and more. The purchase prices of Energy Star-rated products are higher, but, as the story always goes, they will save you energy and reduce emissions into the environment in the long run.
Fund Your Green Projects with Homeowner Funding
No matter what kind of green home improvement project you’re working on, it’s going to help you save energy and increase your home’s value.
At Homeowner Funding, we’re all about helping Northeastern United States residents to finance their home improvement dreams. We can help you locate an NRIA fund that works for what you need.
When you’re ready to do your part to help the environment and bump up your home’s future resale price, we’ll be ready to help you.
Call Homeowner Funding today to secure your funding.
