When you’re on a tight budget (or even when you’re not) having an energy efficient home is important. Being energy efficient means that you’re helping to up the longevity of precious resources, and also, save yourself money. When it comes to creating a more energy efficient home, it’s the larger changes that tend to be seen as being able to make the biggest impact. While big investments like adding solar panels or buying all new home appliances do have an impact on your home’s energy efficiency, small changes can be just as effective.

If you’ve got a spare weekend – or even a day free – the below updates could make a big difference to your home. These are all things that are fairly easy to upgrade and shouldn’t take too long to complete or be too expensive. Want to increase the energy efficiency of your home? Then spend some time making the below updates – honestly, they’re more than worth the time and effort.

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Reprogram your thermostat

Most homes have programmable thermostats, and yet, few of us are taking full advantage of them. Spend 20-minutes or so setting up a thermostat schedule, reducing the amount of energy that your home uses. Think about the times of day when your home tends to get warmest or coldest and program the thermostat to ensure that your property stays at a comfortable temperature during these times. Don’t already have a programmable thermostat? Then perhaps now is the time to invest in one?

Insulate your attic

When it comes to keeping your home warm in the colder months and cool in the hotter months, adequate home insulation is crucial. So if your home isn’t already well insulated, especially in the attic, then now could be the time to change that. Adding more insulation to your attic is incredibly easy, as it’s just a case of picking up a roll or two of insulation from your local DIY store.

Update your home’s lighting

Did you know that when it comes to household lighting, not all lighting is born equal in terms of energy efficiency? If your property is fairly old, then the chances are that the lighting is too, and so, isn’t as energy efficient as it could be. The good news is that upgrading your lighting to be more energy efficient doesn’t have to be overly expensive or time-consuming. If you’re not skilled when it comes to electronics, then it may be best to use electrical contractors for this task, to ensure that your new lighting options are safely fitted and wired in. This shouldn’t be too expensive, so don’t stress about the cost – just think of how much money energy efficient lighting will save you in the long run.

Get in the professionals

When it comes to being more energy efficient, you might find bringing some electrical contractors into your home can be beneficial. Often enough, it can be handy to have a professional look at what electric fixtures and fittings you currently have in and around your home. They can then make suggestions and updates where needed in order to make your home more energy-efficient as a result.

Replace AC air filters

Got an air conditioning system in place in your home? If you haven’t recently changed the filters, then now could be the perfect time to do so. You see, an air conditioning system that has to move air through dirty filters has to work much harder, meaning that more energy is used. To reduce the amount of energy that your air conditioning system uses, make sure to regularly change the filters. It might only be a small thing, but it can make a big difference.

The above tips and ideas are ideal for doing when you’ve got some spare time at home as they’re quick and easy to do and don’t tend to cost too much.

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