Home improvement projects are great, but they’re even better if they save your household money over time! The most common way to bring about savings is to make your home more energy efficient. That way, you are spending less money on monthly energy costs, like your gas and electric bills. If your home improvement budget is small, you can start with less expensive projects, while at the same time saving up for some of the bigger projects that will make a bigger impact.
Smaller Home Improvement Projects to Improve Energy Efficiency
One of the easiest places to start is with the light bulbs in your home. As they burn out, start replacing them with LED bulbs. The upfront cost of LED bulbs is a bit more than other types, but they use much less energy!
Another relatively affordable home improvement project is to seal up any gaps where outside air can get in. Add a layer of caulking around your windows and weatherstripping around frames of your doors. You can also add a door sweep if air is getting in from the bottom of your door.
If your home has an attic without good insulation, you can add it yourself, or hire a company to do blow in insulation. Blow in insulation tends to get into all of the crevices and insulate better, but it makes your attic virtually unusable.
Larger Home Improvement Projects for Energy Savings
The large home improvement project that most people tend to think of when they consider making their home more energy efficient is adding solar panels to their roof. However, solar panels don’t have the ROI that they used to in San Diego. The energy buyback rates for panels that produce surplus power (more power than the home uses), have gone way down in recent years. In addition, generous federal tax credits will likely be going away at the end of the year. San Diego homeowners should really do their homework before spending tens of thousands of dollars on solar panels, and especially before signing a deal to lease solar panels.
A better option if you want to spend some money to improve your home and make it more energy efficient is to install replacement windows in your San Diego home. Replacement windows with dual panes, vinyl frames, and other energy-saving features can make a huge difference in how much energy you have to use to heat and cool your home. In addition, replacement windows tend to increase the value of a home, so when you eventually sell your home, you will see a good return on your initial investment in replacement windows. There are also tax credits available for replacement windows and doors that you can take advantage of to make them more affordable.
Conclusion
Making your home more energy efficient is a noble goal, but before you start spending money on home improvements, make sure each project will actually save you money in the long run.
