Small Energy Efficient House Plans

When we first get up in the morning we brush our teeth and we often keep the tap running letting water flow into the drains. You’re not just wasting a precious resource that people are in desperate need of; but, electricity as well.

I’m sure you’ve had to pump up the water into a tank so that it’s available for use, if you waste water you’re wasting the electricity spent in pumping that water and thereby increasing your bill. So, one of the first and most important steps to building an energy efficient home is reducing the wastage of water.

Some more places where water is wasted and cash as well since electricity isn’t free: -

Washing your car or any other automobile you own – How often do you wash your vehicle? Is it every day, once a week, once a month or scarcer? I agree you have to keep your vehicle clean but why reduce the energy efficiency of your home by wasting water?

Here’s what you could do: Instead of using a hose that lets water run profusely use a bucket and cloth to wash the car it will even look shinier.

Don’t over water the plants in your garden: Use just the right amount and make arrangements for drip irrigation if possible – this will keep both your plants and wallet happy. Growing plants native to your locality will save you lots on water because they're adapted to the climate, soil, the water content and other general conditions.

Having a bath with a bucket and mug: Instead of wasting a whole tub full of water, try to use a bucket instead; try it out, you’ll surely enjoy it and suppose you don't you could always switch back to the tub. I’m not saying to do this every day – every little drop counts so save when possible.

You may say the amount that’s being wasted while brushing is negligible but multiply that amount by everyone in your family into the number of times you brush a day and find out the amount wasted per month and you’ll be astonished.

So this is surely a way wherein you could build an energy efficient home no matter whether your house is under construction or already come up.

Use day light instead of artificial lighting during the day. Open your windows and don’t draw your curtains across as natural light isn't just good for your bill but it will freshen up your entire home. If you've got your AC or heater on you could at least open the curtains i.e. draw them to a side so that light enters. Building an energy efficient home seems rather simple now – doesn't it?

If you've got 5 minutes to spare you could watch the video above, there are plenty of simple things that you could do to improve the overall efficiency of your house. Building an energy efficient home is fun and you'll love every step of the way.

Insulate your home: - If you need and AC or a heater at home this is the single most important factor. Failure to do this is one of the major roadblocks towards building an efficient home. It’s always better to have extra insulation than losing out because of less.

If your home is well insulated it will keep the air inside at the desired temperature but at the same time reduce the dust within your hose as well as the chances of pesky insects entering is far less. The type of insulation needed depends on area as well; therefore, you‘ll need to find out the best type of insulation for your locality. Insulating your home is one of the best energy efficient house plans as your AC bill would be drastically reduced.

Thermostats

They may be a bit expensive but placing them within your home will save you loads on cash as your energy bill will reduce drastically. If you have internal cooling or heating systems and are planning on building an energy efficient home; then, a thermostat is your golden compass.

It controls the temperature when people are present at the desired temperature and there are certain thermostats that could be adjusted to go off when you leave home and turn back on just before you enter so that the internal environment is just perfect.

Sensors

Many of us have porch lights and garage lights and we often tend to leave them on during the nights. But, a simple yet great thing that you could do is replace these lights by sensor lights. There are many types of sensors like daylight sensors that go off when the surroundings are bright enough and others include motion sensors that turn on only when needed – say when you’re approaching your garage or entering your porch. This lets you have fabulous lighting without worrying about wasting energy.

Therefore we see that there are possibilities of small energy efficient houses everywhere you look!

Each and everyone of us is looking for ways to reduce our bills and the best way to do this is to improve the efficiency of our homes. We do love our very own home don't we? Similarly the Earth is the dwelling place of our home (the home of our home) and if we don't take care of it who will? I doubt the Martians are going to arrive to complete this chore.

Together as a community we need to take the giant leap forward and march towards our goal of a greener and cheaper tomorrow. By making the world a better place we can reduce on our A.C and heater bills immensely; not to mention we'll prefer to spend more time outdoors - which we get very little of these days.

The main point that I wanted to explain was the picture above which took me lots of time to create. It's supposed to be a tree without leaves and it's up to us to make it grow and prosper. The $ sign is an indication that we're not going to be doing this for free; we're going to get plenty of benefits not to mention vast savings as well. So once again its my humble opinion do your part and the rest will follow. There's got to be a beginning - Rome wasn't built in a day - was it?

This article isn't complete without mentioning the basic rules of energy efficient homes: -

1. Turn off the lights when you leave a room
2. Turn off your laptop when not in use
3. Don't keep the TV on when you're not watching and this is one of the biggest contributors to overall energy loss as most people tend to do this.
4. Use the AC and heaters only when needed - a degree above pleasant isn't going to kill you.
5. Most importantly follow the methods already mentioned above as well as these pointers. Building energy efficient homes leads to an energy efficient community and most of all a tremendously happy wallet and bank account.

Got some more small energy efficient house plans to share? Let us know, the world would benefit!