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How anyone can make an environmentally friendly home

First answer: Build your house right.

According to a study it wouldn’t necessarily cost any less to build an energy-efficient home than a conventional home because eliminating the air-conditioning, furnace and duct work more than pays for the energy savings that make them unnecessary.  Nowadays, energy efficient designs maximize sun exposure in the winter and minimize it in the summer. They utilize new advances in insulation and building materials and even solar and wind power.

Top Tips

• Heating is the biggest user of energy in your home.  There are five main ways to reduce heating bills and therefore reduce the carbon emissions created by heating your home – when cold outside, don’t leave doors or windows open any longer than necessary, having energy efficient double glazed windows(save £80/yr), loft insulation (save £60-£80/yr), cavity wall insulation (save £130/yr) & draft excluders (save £35/yr) where needed. Replace an old boiler, old boilers can be very in-efficient compared to new ones (save £110 – £180/yr).
• Turning down the central heating just slightly will make a considerable difference (heating controls save £50/yr)
• The fridge/freezer is usually the largest user of electricity in the home. You should locate your fridge and freezer in an appropriate position.  It should not be in direct sunlight or next to an oven.  Instead place it near an exterior wall so the heat can escape and leave a gap so air can circulate.
• Don’t leave you fridge or freezer door open any longer that necessary.
• Defrost your freezer whenever it becomes iced up as these makes the freezer work harder.
• Check the seal on the fridge and freezer to make sure it isn’t damaged
• Never put hot or warm food in the fridge
• Do put frozen food in the fridge to defrost as this will help to keep the fridge cold.
• The tumble dryer is usually the second biggest user of electricity in the home after the fridge.  When possible hang clothes on the washing line and reduce you electricity usage.
• When using the washing machine between 85-90% of the energy is used to heat up the water.  By reducing the water temperature and using a warm wash rather than hot wash will reduce consumption by nearly half.
• On average between 10-15% of electricity used is for lighting the home.  By having energy saving light bulbs your electricity usage could be greatly reduced as they use 4 times less energy and last 10 times longer than ordinary bulbs.
• Always turn the lights off when you leave a room.
• Turn appliances such as TV and stereo of at the mains not just by remote.  Items left on standby use up to 85% of the energy they would use when in full use.  An extra million tonnes of carbon emissions are released into the atmosphere through this power wastage.
• Switch to a “green energy provider”
• By turning off a dripping tap you are reducing the amount of water you use and potentially saving on heating as well if it is the hot tap. 
• When cooking always use the right size pan and only put in as much water as needed.
• Heat water first in the kettle and reduce the time the burner needs to be on to bring to boil.
• By covering the pan with a lid the water will come to boil quicker.
• Insulate the hot water tank (save £10/yr)
• Have showers rather than baths