What Makes a New Home More Efficient?
What Makes a New Home More Efficient?
Efficiency is a very important aspect of your home. It is a way to save money in energy bills. You can make your home more efficient not just to save money. It is a way to add points to the environment. You can reduce your carbon footprint by making use of new technologies that allow your home to be greener, so to speak. But, what makes a new home more efficient? Let’s move on to give you some answers.
Insolation
If you are building a new home, pay special attention to insolation. It is easier as you are still putting walls, windows and doors. Use materials that can keep the sound and heat inside your home. That way you will make any system you use more efficient just because there are going to be no leaks.
There is a special opportunity when it comes to windows and doors. Typically, the cheapest doors and windows on the market will not bring enough insolation. The best is to invest a little more on these and save later. After all, your house is going to run for years, and the total cost of ownership is going to be higher than if you make a wise initial investment.
Use Trees to your advantage
If you have a garden, plan for shade trees in strategical places. Watch out of where the sun comes out at all seasons, and make a natural shade with the trees of your garden. That will increase the efficiency of your home because it will prevent excessive heat at your home.
This advice is of most use for tropical places. When the average temperature at some point of the year is above 25° C, check the location of your trees, so that they provide shades in the right spots.
Energy Star and other Energy Certifications
Check that all your new devices are energy star compliant. Depending on where you live, there are other similar certifications. The energy certifications are important because there are standards to promote a low energy consumption. The newest trends even are looking to eliminate or set to a minimum the standby current that is an important energy leak that can be eliminated.
Plan to have Saving Lightbulbs
Plan your new home to be compatible with saving lightbulbs. You should have at least fluorescent lamps. LED technologies are even more efficient. However, the price is still at a point in which there is no real return of investment in the short term.
Add an Automation System
The most advanced way to make a new home more efficient is by adding an automation system. You can program it intelligently, turning off whatever you are not using. By having your electronic devices under control, you will have more chances to save energy and make a better use of your devices.
For example, some basic automation can provide you the opportunity to open and close your shades when it is best, depending on the time of the day. That way you can cool or heat your home naturally. You can set times to turn on and off the air conditioning system before you get home. In a complete solution, you could even track your location with your mobile device, so that you don’t need to set a specific time.
The possibilities are endless with an automation system. But there are more opportunities you can explode beyond automation. Let’s see it in detail.
Beyond Automation: Monitoring
You can monitor your energy consumptions to make intelligent adjustments. That is important particularly in big homes and building management, in which common areas and common services can be enhanced through the information you get from the monitoring system.
By monitoring your systems, you can save not just power, but also other resources like water and gas. There is a different system to monitor different things. You can integrate it all into a single platform.
The benefits can go beyond being more efficient. You can detect failures before they happen. If there is an issue outside working hours, you can also send notifications to a list of people via email. All these features can make your home operate efficiently.
