Three Cost-Effective Ways to Lower Your Home’s Carbon Footprint

With many people focused on climate change and the impact that modern living has on the environment, finding ways to reduce your carbon footprint is more relevant than ever before. While this may seem like a tall order when money is tight, the fact is there are several things you can do to make a difference.

If you’re ready to start making changes at home, it’s a good idea, to begin with, to take a look at the ideas here. These will help you reduce your home’s carbon footprint and do something positive for the environment as a whole.

1. Rethink Your Energy Intensive Appliances

Chances are you already know that your large home appliances consume a lot of electricity. Electric cookers are huge energy users coming in at around 317kWh when used. What some people don’t realise is that smaller appliances may consume a lot more energy, with kettles sucking up 167kWH each year, for example. What this means is that you spend a lot of money on electricity every time you boil water in a kettle.

Charging cables used for laptops and phones will also suck up a lot of electricity, even after they have been disconnected from the device that they are powering. These ‘energy vampires’ account for a lot of energy waste each year – especially if you’re working from home (for businesses, there are a lot of other ways to reduce their carbon footprint).

2. Thermostats and Home Heating

When you move into a home, you are generally stuck with the heating system that’s already installed. Unfortunately, these systems aren’t the most efficient or the most carbon-friendly in most cases. Because of this, you may want to consider upgrading your heating system or thermostat.

An air-source heat pump looks similar to an air conditioning unit. Instead, they take the heat out of the air and boost it to a higher temperature with the heat pump. The energy needed to power the pump is much less than the heat that is produced.

While this is a smart solution, it’s also an expensive one. Because of this, you may want to take more affordable steps to reduce your carbon footprint, such as turning the thermostat down. Just turning your thermostat down by one degree will help to significantly reduce your energy costs.

3. Make Small Changes in Your Daily Habits

While making changes like the ones above is a good first step to reducing your carbon footprint, you also need to make sure you aren’t falling into the same old habits as time passes. This requires you to make a change and then stick to it. Try changing one habit at a time or just make small daily changes, as they can make a big difference over time. For example, could you walk instead of drive to the shops? Or switch your light bulbs to energy-efficient ones? Don’t forget about things like recycling or the amount of time you spend in the shower.

Are You Ready to Reduce Your Home’s Carbon Footprint?

As you can see, there are more than a few steps that you can take to help reduce your carbon footprint. Now is the time to start making changes as this will help to improve the world for future generations. While your efforts may seem small, when combined with others, they can have a huge impact on the state of the planet.

By Claire Monroe Digital Relations Consultant https://www.thesixthdegree.media/

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