How to Incorporate Energy-Efficiency into Your Remodel Project
If you’re thinking about remodeling your home, why not incorporate energy-saving features that also save you money and reduce your carbon footprint?
While you can make small changes, like swapping out appliances, you can also make bigger changes that will have some surprising impacts on your home. Discover how to use remodeling to save money. The Kitchen is a great place to start. With the kitchen serving as the hub of the home, it can consume a fair amount of power and resources.
Energy-Star Appliances
Our kitchen appliances can account for a large portion of our monthly energy costs. Induction is the most energy-efficient way to cook and reduces the amount of heat released, keeping your kitchen cooler. Look for Energy Star refrigerators that are also designed to maximize food freshness with smart organization to reduce the open-door time needed to find food, doubling your efficiency. Smart dishwashers are more efficient, with high-powered turbojets that use less water more efficiently to get dishes cleaner. Water recycling reservoirs store filtered water from the rinse cycle for use in the next load’s wash cycle, reducing water consumption by 30% or more. Ovens with both convection and microwave technology cook food up to eight times faster than a conventional oven. Warming drawers with adjustable moisture control settings use only a fraction of the energy that an oven uses to heat food and less energy than a microwave for reheating.
Lighting
Kitchen lights are usually on more than any other room in the house. Where possible, daylighting will help to fill your kitchen with bright, natural light, and designing with skylights and windows will ensure you don’t need to use electricity during the day. Energy-saving LED or CFL globes designed to provide task lighting will help to efficiently illuminate your kitchen when the sun goes down. A switch to energy-efficient lighting is one of the fastest ways to cut your energy bills. Consider also adding controls such as timers and dimmers to save electricity. Timers automatically turn lights off when not in use, and dimmers can be used to lower light levels. Energy efficient bulbs use around 75% less energy than standard models and last ten times longer.
Low Flow Faucets and Fixtures
Another simple switch you can make in the kitchen is changing your standard faucets to low flow models which can save as much as 60% in your water usage. A water-efficient tap fitted with an aerator might discharge one-half gallon of water a minute, whereas a regular tap may discharge up to 2 gallons per minute – which is a pretty huge difference. Less water doesn’t always mean less pressure. When remodeling a bathroom, aerating showerheads force water through small holes, producing a fine but vigorous spray. And a standard toilet, often the biggest water waster in a home offers pressure-assist technology to produce a jet-like flush. By adding low-flow faucets and fixtures into your remodel project, you’ll conserve more water and money than you think!
Striking Remodels by Bell can consult you toward a functional, aesthetically pleasing, and money-saving remodel. Our team includes Interior Designers, Electricians, Plumbers, and Craftsmen to ensure your project runs as smoothly as possible.
To learn about energy-efficient remodeling, reach out to us at Striking Remodels by Bell.