This post will help you make a few little changes around your home and help you learn how to make your home more sustainable in 2022
I think we are very aware of the climate changes happening around us and across the world, and I think we all want to do a little bit more to help it. Every little helps and one small change can really help. I’ve found it’s been easier to make these changes than I thought, and once you start you will certainly want to make more sustainable changes in your home.
Upgrade To A Composite Front Door
Lets’s start at the front of the house! One of our first jobs, when we moved into our home, was the front door. We had a large single paneled glass wooden door which was the original front door from the 1960s. Not only did I find this unsafe with the children running around, but it also didn’t feel very secure security-wise, so it had to go asap!
We swapped this wooden front door for a brand new composite door with double glazing glass panels and much more energy-efficient panels to help keep the heat inside the house, and the cold breeze out. You instantly felt the difference in the hallway, with no more drafts coming through. You also have the option of different colours to pick from, we went for classic black which we felt was quite timeless, and 9 years on it’s still looking great. We even had a smart lock fitted to this to make it even more secure.
Bulk Buying and Cooking
I love buying in bulk, it saves so much money and also means you usually have a supply at home. I usually buy toilet rolls, hand wash, and washing powder. This all came in handy during the lockdown as I had a supply already waiting! You can extend this out into food, by purchasing large bags of things like pasta and rice. You’ve saved money straight away, but extend this out into cooking, and whilst the oven is on making one dinner, make another 2 or 3, and then freeze them.
Energy Efficient Lightbulbs and Smart System
We love our Philips Hue lighting in our home and we find it really energy efficient. We also use many of the smart home features of the lightbulbs to make them even more energy-efficient for your home. We have a couple of senors in our hallway and landing. This detects movements near them and switches on the light for you and then turns it off after a certain amount of time. This is brilliant during the night, as you wake up and move around to another room. It can be set to switch on at very low light, enough for you to see but not enough to wake you up. Also no more leaving lights on whilst you walk around the house!
You can also set timers for them so they automatically turn off at a certain time, so if you forget to turn off a light you don’t come down in the morning with it being left on all night. The geo function is great for turning your lights off when it detects no one is at home as well. Why have lights on when you’re not there!
Install Modern uPVC Windows
With renovations, you’re lucky if the house has already had all the windows replaced with energy-efficient uPVC windows, if they haven’t this should be one of the first jobs you get done to save money, make your home more sustainable, and reduce your energy bills.
uPVC windows are highly energy-efficient, fully recyclable, fitted with double glazing, and also very low maintenance. They will offer you back a long-lasting material, prevent drafts, stop the heat escaping and cold air getting in, and instantly make your home look nicer and up together. They come in a range of different styles to suit your home, so don’t think they have to be the same type of frames and have no character to them. You can even pick from a range of colours too.
Wash Clothes Correctly
Always read the label when washing clothes, don’t wash any hotter than you need to and make sure the washing machine is as full as it can be, but still, wash the clothes properly. I’ve recently purchased a 12kg washing machine and it’s been brilliant. With 5 people in the house, I was washing so often, I can now wash a decent size wash at one time. A full week’s uniform fits in it for one wash!
Also air dry outside as much as you can, I have a pull-up line that goes up high and in February I can dry a load of washing out there for free with a bit of sunshine and wind, much cheaper than a tumble dryer or wet washing in the home.
Install a water softener
Daily, we rely on heating up water throughout our homes for boilers, kettles, dishwashers, washing machines, showers, and baths. Consequently, limescale is a common issue brought on by the heating and cooling process if you live somewhere with hard water. Since it takes more energy to heat the water when there is a build-up of limescale, appliances and heating systems may become much less efficient. For example, a heating system’s performance might decrease by as much as 12% when limescale accumulates by just 1.6mm in thickness.
By eliminating the minerals that create limescale and improving efficiency with the installation of a non-electric water softener, you can solve this problem to save money. And the savings don’t stop there, other benefits are, you’ll use less detergent in the washing machine, and no more descaling products in appliances or for cleaning surfaces and taps. On top of this, removing the limescale from your home, appliances will also last longer and lower repair or replacement costs.
I hope these have helped you with a few ideas on How to make your home more sustainable in 2022 and even those small changes will make a difference.
16 Comments
Great tips for making your home more sustainable. Another easy sustainable swap you can make is switching to 100% renewable energy supplier. Switching only takes a few minutes and can make a huge difference to your carbon footprint. Home insulation is also incredibly important and can help you save money too. Love the blog, from a fellow blogger 🙂
Fab idea, thank you for sharing
Great post, full of seriously handy tips! I now always check the washing instructions on my clothes — also helps maintain clothing quality and prevent shrinkage x
Thank you very much
These are great tips! Me & my boyfriend are in the process of buying a house so we’ll definitely be referencing back to this post once we move in. With energy bills so high at the moment, making the home sustainable and energy efficient is paramount!
It’s crazy at the moment isn’t it, so any saving is so important now
We have Philips Hue lighting too. It makes such a difference, and so easy to control how many lights are on at any one time.
I love it, so handy and really does help save on electricity
This is so useful, I’ve been wondering how we can make some changes. We moved in last year and nothing has been done for at least 15 years.
Oh you’re have a big list to do then! I am always changing something!!
There is so much I want to change about my house, just wish I had the funds to do it
Always something to spend on in the house isn’t there!
Very interesting read we have finished replacing all our windows thankfully and makes a huge difference. I would love a new front door will look at these as not heard of them before
Oh yes new windows make a massive difference, I love how many colours of front doors you can get!
A composite door sounds amazing, my parents have just had double glazing windows fitted so the bills should go down a bit! Washing with cold water & efficiently is definitely super important to being more sustainable x
Oh fingers crossed they get cheaper bills now!