How To Save Money At Home

New season, new challenges!

There’s no better time to start the summer than with new challenges that make us feel good inside and out.

Saving money has always been important, and it is even more important if it can help protect the environment.

We have heard of eco-building, but why haven’t we implemented it yet?

If you’re not sure where to begin, we can help you.

The first step is to get to know your house. Thanks to the Building Energy Rating, we can assess its energy efficiency. Using these tests, you will be able to determine how energy-efficient your house is. It is rated from A to G, A represents maximum energy efficiency and G represents minimum efficiency.

In addition to protecting the planet, having a BER Certificate helps you also to save money on your energy bills, enhance the quality, durability, and comfort of your house and receive tax benefits.

Using natural resources efficiently allows us to protect the planet and lower our expenses at the same time.

The more time we spend at home, the more we control our expenses like electricity, water and gas… It’s like we’ve become experts at consumption.

Almost everyone wants to save money, but no one said it would be easy, so here are some tips you can use to save money and improve the energy efficiency of your home:

Choosing Your Decorations Wisely

If we told you that good windows can help you save up to 25% on energy, we’re not lying. The key is to invest in insulating or installing uPVC windows to avoid energy loss. Additionally, they will help keep the heat inside the house until long after the heating has been turned off, and keep you cool in summer.

Installing quality uPVC windows will increase comfort in your home and reduce heating costs since they are great insulators; which increases the efficiency of your home.

Additionally, a good uPVC window will prevent water or contamination from entering, preventing problems such as humidity and allergies during springtime.

Also, we should know what kind of curtains we should use for our windows. They

should be changed according to the season, so we can make our home more welcoming, while also giving it a new look. There are so many styles of curtains to choose from:

Insulating Curtains

The most important thing for them is to be practical and then decide on their thickness and dimensions. There should be extra fabric left along the length and width of the windows so that the cold spots can be insulated more easily.

Thermal Lining

Made from insulating materials, they are used for both hot and cold

weather as they prevent the sun’s rays from entering in hot weather and keep heat inside in cold weather.

Double curtains are a good way to protect from the cold.

They offer the flexibility to mix different types of fabrics and thus achieve different levels of lighting in the rooms.

Blackout Blinds

A blackout curtain acts as a great insulator for cold, and reduces outside noise to a great extent, offering a higher level of privacy. Another advantage of this type of curtain is that it allows you to exclude or increase light from the outside.

The flooring plays an important role in energy savings as well.

With a wool carpet, you can insulate your home from the cold and add style at the same time.

The use of underfloor heating is yet another way to keep your house at a consistent temperature while preserving the aesthetics of the home. From an energy standpoint, the heat produced by the floors hits the people and elements earlier, therefore the room feels warmer. Low maintenance of the system, energy efficiency, and easy installation are some of the advantages of underfloor heating.

Keep The Heat at Bay

Having the comfort of a warm home is incredibly satisfying. However, managing to

maintain the desired temperature and in turn saving on your bills can be a challenge.

We must learn to keep track of the amount of heating we use and not to abuse it.

How can we do it?

By following these guidelines:

– Reduce the temperature to 20 degrees in living rooms and between 15-18 in hallways and bedrooms helping to save up to 10% on your heating bill.

– Set operating hours: If you are not at home, why keep the heating on? This is a waste of money and energy and includes small actions like these in our routines that will help save energy and improve energy efficiency in the home.

– Identify the areas of the house that are used the least and turn down the heating.

– Check the boiler annually: The performance of the boiler depends largely on the use that it is given, which will mean it should be inspected every year. By keeping a check on it from time to time, you will prevent future breakdowns and improve its quality.

 

Decoration plays an important role in this section as well.

• Keep your living room warm in the winter months with cushions and blankets. Make blankets a focal point for a room with different patterns, textures, and colors.
• Use rugs to protect the floors and act also as an insulator.
• Make use of earthy tones, such as earthy browns and orange. You can also use other hues for a very warm touch.
• Make the most of your fireplace by placing the firewood in a basket or box to use as a decorative item in the room. Also, you’ll have it accessible when you need to use it.
• Wood is also a great material for some furniture and adds a cozy touch to a living area.
• As for lamps, you can’t miss golden touches.
• Candles are one of the best accessories to have at home, they decorate every corner of the house and can allow you to replace the light bulbs, for a relaxing touch.

Don’t Forget About The Boiler

We always wait until something breaks down to check it, that’s why we must anticipate and follow controlled maintenance of our boiler, avoiding malfunctions, saving up to 10% in our bill.

If you have been using the same boiler for a long time and you notice that you are spending more than you should, it is advisable to replace it with a new one.

What we think is an expense today, is a saving in the medium term.

How Often Should You Replace Your Boiler?

Boilers can last 10 years while others get faulty after only six years. In the end, it will depend on the type of boiler and the maintenance and care given to it.

If you see one of these signs, it’s time to replace your boiler:

• You pay more than usual for your bills
• It breaks down more often
• Does not reach the desired temperature
• Leaks water
• Makes strange noises

Taking advantage of the expansion of gas supply distribution networks makes saving money easier than ever before.

Why should we switch from oil to gas?

• Low cost and high efficiency: it is considered to be one of the most efficient energy sources. High-performance results in lower consumption and, therefore, lower costs.
• Clean energy: it reduces CO2 emissions, making it environmentally friendly.
• As opposed to petroleum, there is a large supply, making it an accessible source of energy.

“Turn off the tap to water wastage”

Water is a scarce commodity, and we must make sustainable use of it.

From our homes, we can do our bit by implementing measures such as the use of flow reducers on taps and showers. They help to avoid wasting so much water and save up to 79% on the bill. This system is easy to apply and within everyone’s reach.

The use of household appliances such as washing machines and dishwashers are elements to take into account since they use large amounts of water every time we use them.

To make sustainable use we should not overfill the washing machine and keep the filters clean to avoid damaging the appliance and reduce energy consumption.

Rinsing the dishes first is not necessary when you are using the dishwasher as you would use twice as much water.

In case you want to replace your appliances, we recommend purchasing energy-efficient models. Since they consume less energy and water, it is an investment that will make you realize you made a good choice in the long run.

The rain barrel is a good idea to reuse water. With the accumulated water, you can water the plants, or even use it for household cleaning, since the water is clean and chemical-free.

Eco-Building

We like to feel safe in our homes, and what is safer than a home that helps protect our planet.

We can help to maintain more responsible use of non-renewable resources through clean energy. A good example is the use of solar panels.

Thanks to the energy they generate we can save up to 85% of the electricity bill and in turn reduce CO2 emissions that cause pollution of the atmosphere.

Saving electricity may seem difficult, but with all the technology that has been developed, it is an easy task. The benefit of using renewable fuel is that we are not only saving on consumption, but we are also making use of an abundant, renewable source. The system is silent, easy to install, and requires little maintenance.

The use of PV panels could improve your home´s energy efficiency and get positive results from BER test.

Is it important to achieve good results?

That is not the question; the question is why it is important to have a home that respects the environment and takes care of it.

Living in a comfortable environment and taking care of our surroundings would be the ideal way to live.

A Home With Its Light

Besides being one of the most important factors when decorating a home it is also an element to take into account in our bill as it constitutes 20% of energy consumption.

Making the most of the outside light makes your home shine with its light and keeps the light bulbs off. If it is complemented with light-colored walls and ceilings, you will gain in luminosity and savings.

LED lighting is also an efficient option.

The following are some of its advantages:

• The duration of the bulb is longer: Although you may think the bulbs are more expensive, in the long run they are the most economical choice as they last up to 15000 hours compared to the 2000 hours that a halogen bulb lasts.
• Eco-friendly
• Lamps do not heat up
• Consume 90% less energy than halogen bulbs.

A system that allows you to control and regulate the intensity of light in your home will be very practical and useful to carry out this tip.

Finally, replacing light bulbs with energy-saving bulbs is something that costs nothing, what are you waiting for!

Keeping careful control of the money spent at home makes saving easier, and even easier with these tips we have given you.

We challenge you to add these tips to your list of resolutions this year and be the one to show us that saving is indeed possible.

Interior and Exterior Insulation

Incorporating this System into our home will provide us with the following benefits:

We will be able to enjoy the perfect temperature in our homes throughout the year thanks to the materials used to cover the walls.

It will make the living environment more comfortable in our homes.

Improving the quality of the house: by protecting it against external factors such as rain or wind, preventing cracks and humidity buildup.

As a result of maintaining a constant temperature throughout the day, we save energy costs by reducing the use of heating.

If the house does not have enough surface area to install it, there is the option of internal insulation.

Acoustic insulation, better thermal bridge control, and energy savings of up to 50% are some of its advantages.