Useful Features of Eco-Friendly Homes
Designing eco-friendly homes is not a passing fad. What many people thought would be just a trend that will stay in vogue for several years has slowly turned into an undertaking of global proportions. The big corporations that push civilization forward are looking for green solutions in the realm of energy and appliances without sacrificing their financial integrity (now there’s a motivation for ingenuity!), and these influences tend to trickle down to the regular household units and families that live in them. This is why so many people go out of their way to add useful features of eco-friendly homes to their lot.
LED lights
LED lights are the most sensible eco-friendly invention in the realm of electricity right now. Of course, it is not perfect, but it is as elegant of a solution as we can provide right now. When compared to incandescent light bulbs, LED lights last immeasurably longer (for up to 20 years), they spend 90% less electrical energy and use most of it to produce light instead of heat. Even though certain elements that are involved in making them can be toxic in larger quantities, when one considers the durability and integrity of LED light bulbs, they are hardly a health hazard, especially when compared to CFL lights. As soon as you replace your entire home grid with LED light bulbs, the results will come soon and they will be undeniable as soon as you open your electrical bill.
Be smart about water
Clean water is a precious commodity. Municipal water supply systems are doing their best to provide us with disinfected and potable water, but there is only so much a large-scale system can do. In order to be smart about water, install a UV disinfection system that will serve as an additional layer of protection against the increasingly resistant microorganisms (which is a consequence of human-induced global warming too). Furthermore, you can build a cistern in your backyard that can serve as a rainwater collector, and attach another filter to the output pipe. This way, you’ll have a viable source of water for secondary use, such as gardening, car cleaning, etc.
Solar panels
If you live in a sunny part of the world (and those parts of the world seem to be getting larger on a yearly basis), you can take advantage of solar panels. While these collectors of energy certainly aren’t cheap, many solar installation companies create financial packages in partnership with banks to offer more than reasonable solutions for homes that are drowning in economic issues. As these solar panels convert sunshine into usable household energy, your home will not only become more energy-efficient, it will also, to an extent, become self-sufficient.
Use plant life to your advantage
If you want to own an eco-friendly home, you have to think green – literally. Utilize your front yard and backyard space to fill it to the brim with robust native plant life that is lush but which also doesn’t require too much maintenance and precious resources (hence – native). They will create natural protection from the sun, serve as an additional layer of insulation to your home, keep the air cleaner and also serve as sound isolators. That’s a lot of benefits from a dash of greenery.
With at least a few of these eco-friendly features you can add to your household, you are bound to reduce the carbon footprint of your home as well as the energy waste. The problem most homes encounter when it comes to adding these features can usually be boiled down to finances, but luckily for all of us, many of these green appliances are becoming commonplace and their price range is becoming more manageable. With a market that is headed in such a promising direction, we just might be successful in averting the eco-catastrophe.