Part of keeping your home running well is ensuring that you’re only using as much energy as is necessary. With this in mind, you may be wondering about how to lower your energy bills without affecting your comfort. Here’s how you can go about creating a comfortable and energy-efficient home.

Plant More Trees

Everyone should be thinking of how they can improve the environment, and one way to do so is by planting more trees whenever you can. You could start with your yard right at home and research the best trees to plant in your area. Get the help of local arborists to ensure that you space them far enough apart. Doing this will see you join the roughly 82,000 businesses which, according to Arborists Near Me, are currently very active in the United States tree service industry. Apart from improving the environment, planting more trees around your home will help shield it from strong winds as well as the scorching sun. These may both leave the interior of your home uncomfortable enough to warrant extensive use of your air conditioner.

Get a Hardwood Floor

If you don’t currently have a hardwood floor, think about upgrading to one. It will look amazing and be comfortable to walk on for you, your family, and any pets you may have. In cooler seasons, a hardwood floor will be a lot more comfortable to walk on than tile and regular maintenance can keep it in a great state for a long time. It will help you keep your home comfortable and minimize the need to crank up the heat when it gets cold. As a plus, it will also make your home more valuable if you decide to sell it. Hardwood floors look particularly luxurious in real estate photography.

Replace Your Windows

Another way to lower your home’s energy bill is to replace your windows if you have single-pane ones. Replacing these with double-pane windows, according to ENERGY STAR, can save you between 21% and 31% of your heating and cooling expenses. This makes it a worthy investment because you can enjoy the results not only in hot seasons but in cold ones, too. If you cannot spare the money to replace the windows right now, you could start saving for them. In the meantime, inspect your windows and doors to make sure that there are no cracks and gaps through which your home may be letting air out. If you find any, buy some caulk or weather strips from a local hardware store and seal them up. This should improve your energy efficiency until you can do a more extensive fix.

Check Your Insulation

Finally, spare some time to inspect your entire house and make sure that the insulation is in good shape. This can help you save a lot in terms of energy because you will be better able to keep the treated air indoors while keeping outdoor air from coming inside. From the attic to the basement and garage, make sure that there are no large gaps through which air can leak. Apart from calling an expert to fill in any such gaps, you could also plant more shrubs and trees strategically around your home. These can lower temperatures by a whole nine degrees Fahrenheit and over time, this can add up.

These suggestions should help you lower the temperature loss that you experience in your home. It will be more gratifying to pay lower energy bills while knowing that you’re also making a smaller carbon footprint on the environment and have the freedom to spend that money elsewhere.

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