Renovations you can do now to reduce your carbon footprint
Looking to do renovations on your home but worried about the environmental impact? Then consider energy efficient renovation that will reduce your carbon footprint. While you save energy, renovations can also save you money on energy costs in the long run. And when you live in Sherwood Park, you can’t afford to lose any heat in the winter!
Canadian households use on average 11,135 kWh of electricity annually. But, with a few swaps and renovations, you can reduce your carbon footprint in Alberta. Even better, in Alberta home renovations may be eligible for rebates or grants; find out if you’re eligible in this blog post.
In our free home maintenance guide, we cover tons of ideas for how to reduce energy costs, improve home safety and save money. But today, we’ll focus on how Sherwood Park homeowners can achieve beautiful renovations and lower their energy costs.
Renovations to reduce your carbon footprint
Try one of these tips when looking to do home renovations to reduce your carbon footprint.
Switch & save on lighting
The first and easiest swap to make your home more energy efficient is to install more energy efficient lighting like LEDs, which use about 80% less energy than incandescent lights and will last longer. Lighting makes up most of our electricity bills, so swapping lightbulbs can have a large impact on your energy efficiency and your energy bill.
Replace windows or doors
Your windows and doors account for a quarter of your home’s heat loss, so a key renovation for energy efficiency is to replace windows or doors. This can also improve your home’s curb appeal! While it is a bit more extensive to replace windows and doors than light bulbs, it can have an even greater impact on your energy efficiency.
Insulate attics, and upgrade old insulation
Besides through windows and doors, your attic or top floor is where a lot of your heat escapes from the home as hot air rises. To prevent this, make sure your attic is well insulated. Many attics have some insulation, but it’s not new enough or of a sufficient R-value to really trap in the heat. In older homes, you may need to upgrade your insulation. Aim for at least 270mm of insulation and an R-value between R50 and R80, but the higher the better!
Utilize smart heating controls
Turning your home into a smart home can also make it more energy efficient. While you may think of your smart home devices as traditionally smart vacuums, home security, and appliances, smart HVAC controls are a major part of creating a truly ‘smart’ home. Smart HVAC controls provide large energy savings by allowing you to program them to heat and cool efficiently and even respond to different indicators in the environment. Plus, if your HVAC system is older than a decade, it’s time to replace it anyways.
Smart homes are getting even smarter as different devices can communicate now with each other. In the future, you could be able to program your smart HVAC to turn on the heat automatically when the garage door opens or heat up or cool down in time with your alarm clock to mimic sunrise and sunset.
Upgrade to energy efficient appliances
Appliances, especially refrigerators and ovens, also use a high amount of energy. You should upgrade your home appliance to more energy efficient models.
Use Eco-friendly building materials
Finally, Eco-friendly building materials are not only more environmentally sustainable, but they can help conserve energy in your home. They tend to be more expensive than traditional building materials, but consider using them if your priority is reducing your carbon footprint. We recommend recycled materials like reclaimed wood and recycled steel. Some homeowners also choose to go with natural materials like wool, straw or bamboo which are also widely available.
Get a free quote
When planning energy efficient renovations in Sherwood Park, consider Lambert Brothers Construction, your partner in home renovations in Strathcona County. We’re a family-owned home renovation business dedicated to high quality you can trust in your Sherwood Park renovations.
Contact us today to request your free consultation and quote. Send us an email or call us at 780-910-2025.
