Everyone is looking for ways to save money and vinyl siding can help you reduce your energy bill. It is the choice of many home owners because of its durability and price.

It is reasonably priced to put on the exterior of your home and it is eco friendly. There are several reasons to install vinyl siding on your home and one of these is the energy bills.

Why Vinyl Siding?

· It has the energy star rating and can save you up to twenty five percent on your energy bill. This is a huge savings and over a year it can really add up to a ton of money in your pocket.

· You can also get rid of unwanted outside noise with this. You can relax in your home without a ton of noise. Noise is very disturbing and you can eliminate it with this simple change.

· Vinyl siding can also withstand storm damage really well. If you live in an area that has violent siding this may be a great choice for you. Storm damage can cost you a lot of money and having vinyl siding can give you peace of mind during a storm.

· Vinyl siding is energy efficient and can reduce your energy bill because it can keep your home at a very comfortable temperature year round. It can keep you warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer. This is a plus because we all want to have the perfect temperature in our home. You can have this at a great price.

· It is also much more cost effective than timber or aluminum. It is also more durable than these choices. Why would you choose to pay more for a material that can cost you more?

· It is eco friendly and this alone saves you money and makes you feel good about your choice. You are not only saving money but also helping the planet. This should make you feel great about your decision to have vinyl siding on the exterior of your home.

· It is also almost maintenance free. You do not have to do a lot to it to keep it looking great and appealing.

· It looks good on your home and can make the value go up.

· It provides insulation for your home and this can save money on your energy bill.

You can save money on your energy bill by installing and this can also provide a wealth of other benefits to your home. You can have a home that looks good and saves you money. It is the choice of many and there is a reason for this choice.

It is all that you want in siding and it can make a difference on the exterior and interior of your home. It is really can help you reduce your energy bill. All you have to do is choose a color and have it installed!

If you want to help the planet, the world and our environment by finding green ways to change and improve efficiency around your home, you are to be commended. There are still people who, when asked about saving the environment, picture the air, the trees, the oceans and wildlife in their heads and think some magic environmental expert somewhere is taking care of business. We all need to do our part.

Besides recycling, switching light bulbs or using energy efficient appliances, we can decrease our carbon footprint by sealing a crawlspace in our home. Did you know that almost 70% of the houses in North and South Carolina have crawl space foundations? Is your house one of them? Did you notice any allergy problems within your family? Are your energy bills high? Smelling any foul odors recently? Your crawlspace and its condition are probably in direct relation to some or all of these results.

The crawlspace of our home is often a neglected area of concern, yet moisture buildup, mold and bacteria growth and mustiness are all very real problems affecting the health and energy efficiency of the house. If you see any drywall cracks or unevenness to the floor of your crawlspace (or any basement with dirt floor) or smell any musty or foul odors you may need some repair work. If you have heightened allergy or asthma symptoms during the warm weather season, you could probably benefit from sealed crawlspace solution.

Crawlspace encapsulation is a green, environmentally sensible solution, helping you and the planet at the same time. It’s a process of preventing moisture from entering the crawl space either from the dirt below or from the outside and then closing vents and completely sealing it for a sterile environment. A 7 layer barrier, installed over walls and floor, prevents mold and bacteria growth. The white covering makes the area brighter, cleaner, and healthier.

Besides significant energy savings of up to 20% of your air/conditioning and heating costs, encapsulated crawlspace means no moisture, mold or musky odors in your house. Additional storage space, created by crawlspace sealing, increases a resale property value of your home. Indoor air quality is improved and levels of radon, mold, and other allergens in your home are decreased.

This is just one more way that you can help save the environment by applying a green solution to your home. A sealed crawlspace equals to a healthy and efficient home.

If you are not sure whether to install external wall insulation (EWI for short) on your building or simply keep your doors and windows tightly shut in order to avoid heat loss; here are 7 things that you should know about exterior wall insulation system.

1. EWI is simply the application of insulation layer to a building’s exterior wall to improve its energy efficiency.

2. Insulating a building’s external (solid) walls will help reduce energy bills. Homeowners who invest a top quality exterior wall insulation system get to save up to £385 yearly on their heating expenses! By insulating your building, you will not only reduce heat loss but also reduce your heating costs by 40%!

3. If you invest in insulating your residential building and the building where you conduct your business activities, you will be reducing carbon emission into the earth’s atmosphere. With Insulated Render System installed by Renderline, one can reduce their property’s carbon emission by a whole 50%!

4. One of the advantages of choosing to install external wall insulation is that you and members of your household or company will not be required to move out of the building when the insulation job is being done. You will not have to move in with a relative or friend (temporarily) when your property is being insulated. No single stick of furniture or fixture will be removed when work is going on, you can get on with your day to day activities.

5. You will not lose any of your precious internal living space. Since the insulation job is being done on the building’s exterior walls, it will not in anyway affect the internal living space.

6. If you plan on selling your property some time in the future, you will be glad to know that insulating it will add more value to it when it is listed for sale. A lot of property buyers are known to jump at properties that are energy efficient. Another good thing about buildings with exterior insulation layers is that they are very beautiful to look at.

7. The other benefits of installing External Wall Insulation include:

• It stops rain water from leaking through the walls of your property
• It absorbs and blocks out sounds – especially unpleasant ones
• It can be applied without stress
• Adds to the lifespan of your property by protecting the building’s brickwork
• Stops internal & interstitial wall condensation

Loft and cavity wall insulation retain the heat in the house to make it warmer in the winter and cooler in summers. 60% of the heat in any UK house goes out through the roof and walls, making home owners and tenants spend a big amount of money on the heating bills and air conditioning.

If you’ve ever experienced heat loss in your after just a couple of hours from turning the heater off, that would indicate your house was not properly insulated. 25% of the heat escapes through the roof, while 35% is lost through the walls.

How to determine whether or not your house is properly insulated

The first step would be to take a look into your loft and check whether the wooden joists are still visible. If they are then your insulation is not thicker than 4-5 inches which will require topping up. The current UK standard for loft insulation is 11-12 inches deep.

If your loft is insulated up to the recommended standard but you still lose heat in your property, it will be very clear that the walls have not been insulated. In most UK houses built after the 1940s, the external walls are made of two layers with a small gap or ‘cavity’ between them. If your home has unfilled cavity walls, a considerable portion of your heating bills will be spent warming the air outside.

How much money your loft and cavity wall insulation could save you

If you insulate your loft up to the UK recommended standard you will save around 20% on your annual heating bill. For an average size property that means you could save between £180 and £220 and around 400kg of CO2.

If your house was built with cavity walls, insulating them could save you around 25% per year on your heating bill which for an average size property is between £200 and £250 and around 1 tonne of CO2.

These figures are provided by The Energy Saving Trust and are based on an average size property heated by gas. Greater savings can be made in larger properties or those heated by coal or electricity.

More energy efficiency tips

Turn your thermostat down. Just by reducing your room temperature by 1°C you could save around £50 per year. If you have a programmer, set your heating and hot water to come on only when required rather than all the time.

Set your cylinder thermostat at 60°C/140°F.

Close your curtains at dusk to stop heat escaping through the windows and check for draughts around windows and doors.

That’s it for now. Please stay tuned for more energy efficiency articles.

After a mild winter, most of us are preparing for yet another intensely hot summer. For frugal homeowners it is always a struggle to lower electricity costs in the summer time. Business for air conditioner repair companies also escalates in the summer and winter when your air conditioner is running at full blast to keep the home comfortable. To avoid costly repair or replacement, make your unit more energy-efficient, and save you money on electricity bills, it is a good idea to change your air filter regularly. Here are three reasons to change your air filter.

Dirty Filters Increase Electricity Use

Whether you know it or not, there is an entire ocean of microscopic dust particles, skin cells, and other detritus floating around your home’s air. As your HVAC unit pumps air into and exhausts out of your house, it sucks in a great deal of that debris. Over time, the debris collects on the inner walls of air ducts and on your filter especially. Your filter prevents the majority of this dust from being breathed by the home’s inhabitants.

As more and more dust accumulates, your air conditioner has to work harder and harder to force air through the filter. Unattended, this can cause little to no air to pass through the filter, and the air will have to escape through the ducts into your crawl space. This is an example of an inefficient air conditioning system that can be prevented by simply changing your filter regularly.

Clean Filters Reduce Energy Costs, and Prevent Unit Breakdown

On the other hand, a clean filter allows your system to run smoothly and efficiently. When there are no gaps or blockages in your system and clean air is allowed to flow smoothly through ducts, filters, and vents, your system can regulate temperature while using less energy. The unit’s motor does not need to work nearly as hard to achieve the same comfortable temperature to which you are accustomed.

Not only does this save you money on your monthly utility bills, it also extends the life of your air conditioner. When your unit works more efficiently and less often, it is less susceptible to the wear and tear that comes from running constantly to keep your house cool. A/C units are built to last for decades. You can ensure that yours do and protect your home’s value by simply changing your filters regularly. A good rule of thumb is to simply change them whenever you pay your monthly bill.

Better Air Quality

As mentioned before, a clean filter blocks dust, debris and other things you would never want in your lungs from entering your breathing space. Most people do not realize the poor quality, or in some cases, significant toxicity of the average household’s air. Fibers in your carpet break down releasing petrochemicals into the air. Dead skin cells abound and are easily breathed in. Repeated exposure to these particles can cause respiratory illness and damage and other forms of lung disease. This is easily preventable. Protect yourself and your family from this avoidable hazard, and change your air filters regularly.