Green Home Improvement

Tackling home improvement projects can be a great learning experience, profitable, and fun.  You can also help the environment, air quality in your home, and cut down on energy costs by making some environmentally friendly choices.  Incorporate as many green options as you can when beautifying your home.  Here we will discuss ways that you can make your home more energy efficient. Let’s take the master bedroom, for example.  Do you have crown moulding?  If you didn’t install the crown moulding yourself, you may want to take a peek behind there.  Some drywallers have been known to install drywall flush with the floor instead of lifting the piece up to the ceiling.  They can only get away with this if they know that crown moulding is going up to cover the laziness.  You could have as much as a two inch gap between the ceiling and drywall, making your heating and cooling bills through the roof, literally. Painting a room is the fastest way to give it a facelift.  Regular paint produces dangerous chemicals called volatile organic compounds, or VOCs.  VOCs are chemically similar to smog.  They linger in the air of rooms painted with ordinary paint for months.  A more environmentally friendly option would be to use a “low VOC” or no “VOC paint”.  Be aware that when you add a color to the low or no VOC paint, that you are adding more VOCs to it.  Some paints are colored with a dye powder, like “Freshaire” brand paint, and stay truly VOC free after colorization. Replacing old windows with energy efficient ones can save a lot on energy bills.  You can caulk around the window to ensure that it is properly sealed.   You may have to remove the window facings to do this.  Energy efficient windows insulate as well as reflect radiant heat from the sun. Also, check behind your light switches and electrical outlets.  Contractors and builders are only required to meet minimum standards for air draft control around outlets and switches.  It may seem insignificant, but this could be equivalent to leaving an exterior door cracked open three inches all the time.  Turn off the power, remove the covers, and replace them with insulated ones. Replace incandescent light bulbs with fluorescent or LED bulbs.  This will cut down on energy usage and radiant heat.  Install a ceiling fan if you don’t have one already.  They use minimal energy and can make you feel 3 degrees cooler in your bedroom. When you are done, accessorize and decorate your new master bedroom.  Get rid of plastic and wire hangers, replacing them with <a onClick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/article_exit_link');" href="http://www.onlyhangers.com/Cat-32-1-2/Wooden_Hangers.htm" title="Wood Hangers">wood hangers</a>.  A more environmentally friendly option would be to choose bamboo hangers.  You can buy furniture made from renewable resources, like bamboo, or from reclaimed and recycled products. You could be eligible for a tax credit of up to $1,500, or 30% of your purchase price for energy efficient home improvements.  The stimulus covers things like good energy rated air conditioning units, hot water heaters, energy efficient window and insulation.  Families in a low income bracket can also get money for weatherizing their homes.  This money can be applied to energy efficient heating and cooling systems, air filters, energy efficient windows and insulation, up to $5,000.

Tackling home improvement projects can be a great learning experience, profitable, and fun.  You can also help the environment, air quality in your home, and cut down on energy costs by making some environmentally friendly choices.  Incorporate as many green options as you can when beautifying your home.  Here we will discuss ways that you can make your home more energy efficient.

Let’s take the master bedroom, for example.  Do you have crown moulding?  If you didn’t install the crown moulding yourself, you may want to take a peek behind there.  Some drywallers have been known to install drywall flush with the floor instead of lifting the piece up to the ceiling.  They can only get away with this if they know that crown moulding is going up to cover the laziness.  You could have as much as a two inch gap between the ceiling and drywall, making your heating and cooling bills through the roof, literally.

Painting a room is the fastest way to give it a facelift.  Regular paint produces dangerous chemicals called volatile organic compounds, or VOCs.  VOCs are chemically similar to smog.  They linger in the air of rooms painted with ordinary paint for months.  A more environmentally friendly option would be to use a “low VOC” or no “VOC paint”.  Be aware that when you add a color to the low or no VOC paint, that you are adding more VOCs to it.  Some paints are colored with a dye powder, like “Freshaire” brand paint, and stay truly VOC free after colorization.

Replacing old windows with energy efficient ones can save a lot on energy bills.  You can caulk around the window to ensure that it is properly sealed.   You may have to remove the window facings to do this.  Energy efficient windows insulate as well as reflect radiant heat from the sun.

Also, check behind your light switches and electrical outlets.  Contractors and builders are only required to meet minimum standards for air draft control around outlets and switches.  It may seem insignificant, but this could be equivalent to leaving an exterior door cracked open three inches all the time.  Turn off the power, remove the covers, and replace them with insulated ones.

Replace incandescent light bulbs with fluorescent or LED bulbs.  This will cut down on energy usage and radiant heat.  Install a ceiling fan if you don’t have one already.  They use minimal energy and can make you feel 3 degrees cooler in your bedroom.

When you are done, accessorize and decorate your new master bedroom.  Get rid of plastic and wire hangers, replacing them with wood hangers.  A more environmentally friendly option would be to choose bamboo hangers.  You can buy furniture made from renewable resources, like bamboo, or from reclaimed and recycled products.

You could be eligible for a tax credit of up to $1,500, or 30% of your purchase price for energy efficient home improvements.  The stimulus covers things like good energy rated air conditioning units, hot water heaters, energy efficient window and insulation.  Families in a low income bracket can also get money for weatherizing their homes.  This money can be applied to energy efficient heating and cooling systems, air filters, energy efficient windows and insulation, up to $5,000.