Melanson Homes & Renovations
Energy efficient, sustainable and environmentally-friendly are the buzz words in home renovations right now. Building a new home or starting a renovation project can be the perfect time to consider how you can make your home more energy efficient (and save money on your utilities). Non-energy efficient appliances account for about 12% of your household energy use. By buying the right appliances and making a few simple changes, you can save significantly on your monthly bills! Here are some simple ways to increase your home’s energy efficiency to reduce your overall costs.
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LED Lights
LED is an extremely energy efficient lighting technology. Widespread use of LED lighting has the greatest potential impact on energy savings in Canada! If you don’t want to switch all your lights to LED, consider just replacing the lights in the highest traffic areas of your home – like your kitchen or living room.
Savings
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Faucet Aerators
Faucet aerators are one of the most cost-effective solutions to improve your rate of water conservation. These are simple screens that you attach to the bottom part of your faucet. They work by reducing the rate of the flow of water, therefore reducing the amount of water you use without changing the functionality of your faucet! Faucet Aerators are your energy efficiency super heroes – they are inexpensive, easy to install and extremely effective.
Savings
Will drop your water use out of your tap from about 20 litres in a minute of running to 2 litres or less a minute.
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Low-Flow Showerheads
In the average home, showering accounts for 20-30% of household water usage. As a result, the shower is a great place to start to make a large impact on your overall hydro costs. Now, you might think low-flow means low-pressure – it doesn’t! The technology behind these devices has advanced greatly over the last few years, so you can have both an energy efficient and enjoyable shower. With the amount of water you save a low-flow showerhead will likely pay for itself within a year of use!
Savings
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Smart Thermostat
Living in a city like Calgary, we all know how expensive heating and cooling can be. Keeping up with our freezing winters, increasingly hot summers, and even the temperature preferences within our families can be a challenge. Smart thermostats are an amazing option for controlling household temperature and saving on your electrical bill. These thermostats work by automatically lowering the temperature at a predetermined time. They also can sense when the house is empty and automatically lower the temperature. Smart thermostats’ ability to connect to Wi-Fi mean you can control your household temperature when you’re out or on vacation from your mobile device!
Savings
For every degree that you lower your thermostat over an 8-hour period, you save 2% on your energy bill! On average smart thermostats provide savings of $131-$145 per year.
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ENERGY STAR Appliances
One of the best parts (and most stressful parts) of a home renovation or new home build is picking out your new appliances! During the process of buying new appliances, make sure you look beyond whether it’s stainless steel or not. When choosing the right appliances, from refrigerators to washing machines and everything in between, be sure to check the EnerGuide label to find the annual energy consumption and select one that uses the least energy. You can use this calculator to find out the lifetime cost of an appliance based on its EnerGuide rating and the cost of electricity in your province. Energy efficient appliances not only result in savings on your utilities, but they can add a lot of value to your home if you ever look to sell.
Savings
Making your home more energy efficient might seem more expensive in the short-term but before you write it off, make sure to consider the long-term energy consumption price of not going the more efficient route. If you are still concerned about the cost of implementing these energy efficient changes, Energy Efficient Alberta offers a Residential Retail Products Program where they provide rebates to home owners who make energy-saving home improvements.
If you are interested in seeing more ways to make your home more energy efficient and see how it can reduce your overall costs, check out this home efficiency tool.