Live in a green building and save money

An eco-friendly home isn’t just good for the environment, and for some people what’s good for the environment isn’t a consideration. An eco-friendly apartment isn’t an alternative lifestyle that involves dreadlocks and not showering but is a dwelling that can save you money and raise the quality of your life. Let’s take a look at living in a green apartment and how it can improve your life and finances.

Wasting anything cost money, yes? Yes, it does. The electricity that your home wastes charged to you. The extra power needed to run white goods and other appliances costs you. A poorly insulated or weatherized home will waste the heat produced by a heater and force an air conditioner to work harder. A fact is a dwelling that isn’t eco-friendly is a wasteful living space. Wastes power and energy, wastes your money and doesn’t help your quality of life. When a government is inefficient and wasteful, that’s bad. When a car is inefficient, it drinks petrol and doesn’t always get you from A to B easily. The same goes for your apartment – inefficiency is a waste, and waste is money thrown away for nothing.

So, what exists to make a home eco-friendly? Firstly, before you rent the property, see if it’s insulated well and not weatherized. Weatherized is when the weather has degraded a dwelling. Weatherization is common in older properties that have had to face winds, snow, rain and heat. Repairs are possible, but often it’s not a thought of the landlord to fix up these things. An eco-friendly and efficient apartment wouldn’t have many if any, issues with the structure being degraded by the weather.

Proper insulation can keep the heat or cold from heaters, or air conditioning will save you money

Energy Star appliances do well for keeping electricity bills down. This program has been around for more than 20 years and is known throughout the US. An eco-friendly apartment would contain appliances that have been approved by Energy Star, and there is proof in the bills that these save costs for renters and homeowners. There are many appliances that have Energy Star certification like dishwashers, refrigerators, heaters, air conditioners, dehumidifiers and water heaters. The best way to find out about Energy Star certification and appliances is through their website here.

Water is a way that you can save on your bills as well, and they’re not like they used to be. A lot of people think of water-saving showerheads and faucets as having bad water pressure. As with a lot of things around the home, this is an area that has seen massive improvements in technology. With a good water saving showerhead or faucet, you won’t even realize you’re using less water. How some of these work is, they use air pressure to push the water out, thus putting more pressure into the water flow. You won’t notice you’re using less water each time you shower. With faucets, water pressure isn’t the most important thing. To do the dishes, it doesn’t matter if the water is coming out powerfully or not, you just want the sink filled.

Lighting is simple and something a lot of people have done already. The new energy efficient lights last longer and use less electricity than older ones without costing you more or requiring you to change anything in your home. (Except a light globe!) Compact fluorescent lights (CFL.) and LED lights are amazing at making efficient use of electricity. This is a simple and inexpensive way of saving some money on your bills. Incandescent lights are wasteful and don’t make much sense economically. Why pay the same price for some that will cost you more in the end? Halogen lights are better than incandescent.

Moving into an eco-friendly apartment or making changes to your place to make it eco-friendly isn’t just about saving the environment (Although that is a welcomed outcome.) but also about saving you money. Waste hits your savings, or if you don’t have savings, then it spends money you don’t have on something you never used. Perhaps when looking at a rental this could be a mind changer for you. One rental property may be a little more expensive than a different one, but the apartment that’s eco-friendly would make up for the extra cost in savings.

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