Make your home eco-friendly
How to make your home more eco-friendly.
Eco-friendly features are not only of great appeal to potential buyers, they can also add value to your property and here at Samuel Wood Estate Agents in Shropshire, we wanted to offer some tips.
Some new homes have eco features as standard, but every property has the ability to lower your carbon emissions, reduce waste, and lower your energy bills. Eco homes are not something for the future, they are very much achievable now, and new technologies are evolving every day.
If you want to make some changes to your property that will not only increase its value but also help the environment, here are our tips on how to make your Shropshire home more eco-friendly.
Irrigate your garden
We’ve had some incredible weather this year, and we hope you’ve managed to enjoy the sunshine even if it’s been from the comfort of your garden.
But with all this sunshine comes potential drought, which means we have to be careful with the amount of water we use.
You may not be aware that watering with a garden with a hose can use up to 1,000 litres of water every hour.
An alternative way to water your plants and lawn would be to install a water butt to catch rainwater. You can use this water to quite cheaply irrigate your garden, with just a pump and a few supplies.
Add insulation
One of the most cost-effective ways to improve the energy consumption of your home is to increase the insulation.
Houses can lose heat through the roof, walls and flooring – in fact, 35% of heat can be lost through cavity walls alone, but this can be rectified by pumping insulating foam into them.
The amount of heat lost through your roof is enormous, by simply insulating the base of your loft you can benefit from lower utility bills and a lifetime of energy savings.
Boiler upgrade
How is your home’s boiler? If yours is anything but efficient, upgrading can make a massive difference, both financially and in making your home more eco-friendly. An A-rated boiled can also stop a large amount of carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere.
You may wish to consider upgrading other appliances too, such as your washing machine and dishwasher, as these will appeal to buyers if they are being left.
Solar panels
Solar panels are an investment but will provide you with completely clean electricity and will make your home much more energy-efficient.
Many new builds bring down their energy consumption by taking advantage of the sun’s rays and sometimes you can produce enough energy to be able to sell some back to the grid.
Solar is a long-term investment and some data suggests it could take around 20 years for you to break even, but this isn’t a decision you make solely for financial gain, it’s about considering how your home can have less of an impact on the environment.
Double-glazed windows
It will be no surprise that double-glazing has made it onto this list.
Windows can be a major source of heat loss because heat can transfer through glass relatively quickly.
When you add double-glazed windows they create a layer of air that behaves as an insulator.
As well as windows, it’s worth doing what you can to prevent any draughts in your Shropshire home – doors, your letterbox and even your attic hatch could all cause draughts.
Vegetable patch
Have you been spending lockdown growing your own?
If you have, then you’ve been helping to lower emissions through your vegetable patch. Not only do vegetables for your own garden taste so much better, they will also have virtually no carbon footprint.
More and more buyers are scanning property details to look for eco-friendly features, so if you can make some appropriate home upgrades you could potentially increase your home’s value when you come to sell.
If you’re curious about the value of your property in Shropshire call our team on 01743 272710..