Energy prices—including the costs of heating and cooling your home—are up across the board. Whether you use oil, natural gas, electricity, or even renewable energy sources, it costs you more every year to pay your utility bills. There are not many ways homeowners can reduce how much they pay, but one thing they can do is ensure their home is as energy efficient as possible.
You can take small steps to make your home more energy efficient, but the greatest impact will come from exterior home renovations. Some of the largest sources of lost energy efficiency are located outside your home. Investing to renovate these exterior features can lead to increased energy savings over the years.
Looking to make your home more energy efficient? Start by making these renovations to your home.
Siding Replacement
Siding is like a jacket for your home, so it’s not surprising that it will have a large impact on its overall energy efficiency. Old siding can create a serious energy efficiency problem in your home. Warped, cracked, and loose siding allows cold air to get behind it, trapping it in between the siding and your home’s interior. Older siding materials are also not as well insulated in terms of their R-values and U-values (which determine how well a material stops the transfer of heat).
In all, replacing your siding is one of the best things you can do to make your home more energy efficient, especially if you invest in a great insulating material like metal siding.
Window Replacement
Every window is an entry point for your home. Not for you, but warm and cold air use them quite often. The largest complaint people have about old windows is that they have become drafty. Want to test it out? Stand next to one in the dead of winter. You can usually feel the cold air seeping inside, which creates a large energy efficiency problem. Every old window in your home is a hole that leaks heated or cooled air.
New windows not only act as better insulators, but window replacement also allows contractors to completely redo the frame and insulation surrounding the window, which is usually where most of the air gets in and out of the home.
Roofing Replacement
Believe it or not, your roof has a lot to do with the insulation of your home, especially during the winter months. Heat rises. It goes up from your living area, through the attic (if you have one), and straight out the roof. Having a newer roof with better-insulated materials means less heat loss from your home. It also helps to have proper attic insulation, as well.
What’s the best type of roof for insulation? Most materials work well, but many experts agree that metal roofing is among the most energy-efficient roofing materials. Whatever material you choose, getting a roofing replacement is a good way to make your home more energy-efficient.
