7 Smart and Sustainable Ways to Upgrade Your House

Last Updated on August 3, 2024 by Joshua Isibor

Sustainability in houses minimizes wastage and household costs, conserves resources, improves living conditions, and ensures safety. Renewable energy, water-saving systems, home automation, energy-efficient appliances, and other intelligent and sustainable house upgrades may sound costly and time-taking. But they’re an essential investment to ensure safety, durability, and living conditions. 

A better environment, living conditions, and comfort outweigh the initial cost, and once you overcome initial expenses, you can utilize net savings and time for other priority areas to improve your lifestyle. In short, sustainable, intelligent, and automated homes have a more profound impact on our living conditions and well-being than a mere verbal or architectural appeal. And you’ll not regret embedding such features in your home.

Below, we’ll share some viable, cost-effective, and sustainable upgrades worth considering.

• Install A Water-Saving System

Water is a scarce resource, yet we use it irresponsibly. Water loss due to leaking pipes and faucets does not bother us because we don’t realize water waste costs. Leaky pipes, taps, faucets, toilets, sinks, and other broken parts of your water distribution system increase your water use burden on natural resources. 

So, give your bathroom, toilet, and worn-out segments of the water distribution system a much-needed makeover to prevent excessive water wastage. Such sustainable practices also boost the value of your property to prospective buyers. And if you’re living in a city like Tucson with a steady real estate market, such projects will prove worthwhile in ensuring a lucrative deal once you sell your house. As per May 2023 statistics, approximately 99.7% of houses sold for the asking price in Tucson, AZ. 

Most importantly, invest in walk-in showers since they’re more effective in reducing water wastage. If you’re looking for walk-in showers in Tucson, search the keywords Tucson walk-in showers and hire the most reliable home remodelers in town. These upgrades may sound expensive, but cumulative damage is even higher. Studies estimate that leaky taps drain over 60 liters of usable water into waste every week. Every minute spent in a power shower causes water waste of over 17 liters, whereas leaving a tap open while brushing drains 6 liters every minute. These statistics are alarming when you equate the cost to your overall household expenditure, depletion of natural resources, and environmental damage. So, use water responsibly and do not save on much-needed investment.

• Invest In Renewable Energy

24/7 uninterrupted energy supply is a fundamental requirement of a modern-day lifestyle. Since energy drives our lives, we depend on electricity for cooking, study, work, entertainment, and whatnot. So, interruptions of even a few minutes can disturb our lives. 

Renewable energy is a better alternative. It’s more affordable than electricity from grid stations or private standby generators. Renewable energy is also environment-friendly, with zero discharge of greenhouse gases. Hence, it helps reduce your carbon footprint, environmental degradation, and greenhouse emissions.

• Grow A Home Garden

A homegrown garden has an aesthetic appeal, but greenery has a more profound, lasting, and deeper impact on our well-being and home environment. For instance, plants can help purify the indoor environment and minimize the concentration of volatile compounds, carbon dioxide, and other fine particles. Humidity and transpiration from plants can help regulate temperature and reduce energy costs during hot weather. 

Greenery also has a calming and soothing effect on the mind and eyes. Seeing greenery daily relieves stress and improves vision. Likewise, physical exertion while gardening also improves muscular and skeleton strength and stamina. In addition, you can use your home garden to grow tasty, organic, more nutritious, and chemical-free vegetables and fruits. 

• Purchase Energy-Efficient Home Appliances

Light bulbs, air conditioners, coolers, fans, televisions, refrigerators, washing machines, dishwashers, water heaters, electric stoves, microwave ovens, computers, and cell phones are all energy-hungry devices. Even though electricity is one of the chief household expenditures, life without these appliances is unimaginable. But now you have many options to reduce energy costs with energy-efficient alternatives. 

Energy-efficient appliances and gadgets are a little costly but worth the investment. Newer versions are more aesthetic, durable, environment-friendly, and energy-efficient than older ones. Artificial intelligence, embedded sensors, and automation have enhanced their functions, performance, convenience, and usability. And if you observe long-term performance, you will see a substantial difference in operating costs.

• Replace Incandescent Light Bulbs

Energy-efficient lighting brightens your home the same way as traditional incandescent bulbs but with much lower cost and energy usage. For instance, light-emitting diode bulbs may cost a little higher but have a longer operating lifetime and a much lower operating cost. On average, a house can save $225 in energy expenditure annually by switching to an LED home lighting system. LED lights are 90% more energy efficient than incandescent light bulbs. Hence, it is the cheapest, easiest, yet high-yielding home upgrade you can adopt. 

Eco-friendly light bulbs are also readily available in markets at discounted prices to endorse reliance on renewable energy. And you can also exercise more control over your home’s lighting with sensor-enabled intelligent variants in the market. For instance, timers and dimmers can turn lights on and off and regulate lighting intensity depending on use.

• Use Eco-Friendly Paint

Redoing paint is necessary to enhance your home’s durability and strength. But paint is also a chief source of health hazards. Chemicals, volatile compounds, and micro-particles from worn-out paint contaminate the indoor household environment and cause or trigger health issues, such as shortness of breath, headaches, dizziness, itching, and nausea. Long-term exposure to paints lacking quality assurance can cause more chronic health issues like cancer, central nervous system, kidney, and liver problems. And paints with higher concentrations of volatile compounds also damage the environment.

Though most paint brands undergo extensive quality checks to ensure safety for household use, some cheaper products are risky. Given this, always choose eco-friendly paint colors and brands. Get your walls repainted if you suspect or experience safety and well-being issues. Purchase non-toxic, eco-friendly paints, and use organic alternatives.

• Recycle Household Waste

How we live, manage our homes, consume food, manage waste, and use household objects can also improve sustainability. Since reducing environmental damage is one aspect of sustainability, recycling household waste is one way to embed or enhance that feature in our homes. And there are several ways to achieve it. For instance, categorize waste into dry, liquid, and biodegradable categories and use separate bins to simplify recycling. 

Utilize your food and biodegradable waste to produce compost for homegrown plants with a compost bin. Reuse water used in the kitchen for toilet flush and homegrown garden. 

Conclusion

A sustainable and environment-friendly house is achievable. It’s trending among eco-conscious and literate homemakers, yet many fear overwhelming expenditures. But rest assured. The overall cumulative and long-term impact on health and well-being is worth the investment. Most sustainable and intelligent home repairs, renovations, or upgrades can help reduce household operating costs and increase your home’s net value. So, let sustainability and smart choices improve your lives and well-being.

ALSO, READ How to Strengthen Family Bonds When You’re Staying at Home

Originally posted 2023-07-11 21:12:39.