If you can do a home upgrade and save money while doing so, you will have achieved what many homeowners dream about. Here are five tips to help you do just that, and enjoy an improved home at a friendly cost.
1. Replacing Your Garage Door
One upgrade that will pay for itself in a short time is replacing your garage door. If you get a new garage door that has insulating properties, you stand to make impressive savings over time. For one reason, you will have improved your home’s livable space and expanded the valuable square footage you own. You will also be able to store sensitive items much more safely and well in a garage that keeps the temperatures inside it moderate. Popular Mechanics shares that the average garage door will open and close three to five times each day which makes up roughly 1,500 times per year. You will enjoy efficiency when you have a garage door that works well and doesn’t give you issues with opening and closing.
2. Insulating Your Home
Another potentially money-saving upgrade is insulating your home. From the attic to the doors and walls, you need to make sure that your home is fully insulated against extreme weather. Doing this will see you using less energy to keep your home’s temperatures regulated. When you have to crank up the HVAC a little less, it’s clear to see where the bulk of your savings will come from. Inspect the entire house and look for possible leaks, then focus on sealing these first, and you will be on the way to running an energy-efficient and cost-effective home.
3. Getting New Windows
Your home’s windows may be another reason why you’re constantly turning the HVAC on full. If you have drafty, single-pane windows in your home, you lose a lot of the air you treat through them. If you don’t have the budget to replace them in totality, you could seal any cracks and gaps between them and the frames. Replace any missing weather-stripping to ensure that you’ve fully insulated your indoors from heat loss as well as penetration by rain and moisture. The market for doors and windows had a value of $153 billion in 2020, so if you do decide to get new ones, you will be in great company as many people are clearly getting them.
4. Installing a Smart Thermostat
A smart thermostat in your home will allow you to control the temperature even from outside the home. It will make it possible to minimize the amount of energy used in your home by regulating the temperatures automatically as you set them to. You will no longer have to make the tough decision of either coming home to a freezing house and waiting for it to warm up or leaving the heat on and running up the energy bills.
5. Switching to Solar Power
The final home upgrade that will save you considerable amounts of money is switching to solar power. While it may be a bit costly upfront, this cost evens out as you rely less on billed energy for your home. More than three million solar installations, according to energy.gov, have been built in the country. One million of these were built between 2020 and 2022, and this shows that more people are seeing the positive side of powering their homes with solar energy.
If you’re thinking of your next home upgrade, this list should help you see just where you stand to make the best investment. Plan them out and save up, working with vetted professionals to ensure that you get the best results.
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