It is always a good idea to look to the future when thinking of making any home renovations. This is especially important if you plan to sell your house. With some improvements, you can make you much more valuable and add to the sale price when the time comes. In the past, the favored improvements were luxuries like swimming pools and air conditioning. But in our more eco-conscious world, green renovations are the favorite. Here are some changes that you can make to your home that will make its value skyrocket.
Using The Power Of The Sun
The sun is the most renewable source of energy out there. It comes up every day, and it is the closes thing we have to free power. Several home improvements can use it to your advantage. The simplest is adding a skylight or larger windows. These are great if you want your rooms to be brighter in the daytime. Natural sunlight can be very good at improving people’s moods, which will make your house a happier place.
A more expensive renovation is adding solar panels to a home. With these panels, you can generate your electricity, which will help in reducing your electrical bill. With the current prices of solar energy systems, they can pay for themselves in a few years and start making a profit for you. Combine it with federal tax credits, and you can get a lot of value from this single installation.
Save On Electricity
Electricity is what makes the modern home operate. You have electrical appliances all over the place, and there are electric lights. Saving electricity can be a great way to help the environment since your home would consume less energy. It also benefits you since you can save on your bill. The main improvement that you can make is to replace all the lights with LEDs. These lights are much more efficient and provide brighter light for much less electricity.
The other change that you can make is to upgrade your current appliances. Find ones that meet Energy Star Certifications so that you get the most efficient products on the market.
Conserve Water
Besides electricity, the other utility that your home consumes a lot of is water. Conserving water should be a top priority since it both saves you money and helps with the local water supply. Two improvements can help. One is a bathroom renovation, which consumes the most water out of any part of the house. This is the use of low-flow fixtures. These are fixtures that minimize the flow of water while still ensuring proper function. Thanks to creative design, they are as effective as their more wasteful counterparts.
Next, the other improvement is for the outdoors. Your lawn can be a very hungry consumer of water to keep it green. But if you choose to use local plants, which have better adaptations to the local water levels, they will still look fresh with minimal watering.
Insulation Is Worth It
Another improvement that will get a lot of value is proper insulation. You can install it in select places in the house so that it can have maximum effect. This includes the attic, the siding, and the various entrances. Insulated windows and doors are very important because that is where the usual leaks of heat come from.
Proper insulation helps with regulating the temperature in your home. This ensures that your heating and cooling bill doesn’t go through the roof during the summer and winter. They can lower the bill in the long run.
Use Rainwater Efficiently
Every time that it rains, there is a lot of rainwater coming down. There are a couple of home improvements that use this resource to its fullest. One is installing dry wells in your lawn. These absorb rainwater and can help irrigate your yard without the need for any external water source. A more drastic improvement you can make to your home is to have a rainwater catcher. This stores all the water in a tank for future use. While the rainwater is not good for drinking, you can still use it for washing and other purposes.
Home improvements cost money to implement. The great thing about them is that you can recoup the expense when you finally sell. But eco-friendly renovations start paying off before you sell. The savings you get from them pay for the installation. So when it comes time to sell, all the extra value that you place on them will be pure profit.
