From Guest Blogger Lizzie Weakly: How to Maximize Your Home's Energy Efficiency and Comfort Levels

The average family may not realize just how much energy is wasted in their home every single day. If you have begun to dread opening up your energy bills each month, then take a look at these simple tips to improve your home’s efficiency and comfort.

An Energy Audit
An energy audit may seem to be a sizable investment, but it could result in serious savings on your energy bills. An experienced auditor will inspect your home from top to bottom and find out exactly where your energy is going. Homeowners will be given all of the information that they need to begin making sweeping changes to lower their bills and reduce their carbon footprint.

Switch to a Tankless Water Heater
Outside of the HVAC system, the water heater is often one of the biggest energy consumers within a home. Older water heaters store a large amount of water in a basin and keep it at a consistent temperature, but this means that they are almost always on. As an alternative, homeowners may want to consider upgrading to a tankless water heater that will only heat water exactly as it is needed.

Update Your Lighting
Around 11 percent of a household’s energy is dedicated to lighting. While lighting is a necessity within every home, some minor updates and upgrades could save quite a bit of money. High-efficiency LED and CFL bulbs are often 75 percent more energy efficient, and these modern bulbs also last around 10 times longer than traditional bulbs.

Consider a Maintenance Agreement
Setting up a maintenance agreement with a company like WK Mechanical could help homeowners prevent major breakdowns with their heating and cooling systems and improve their efficiency. An HVAC system can lose as much as 10 percent efficiency every single year, but the correct maintenance could offset these issues as well as increase the lifespan of the heaters and coolers.

Seal Up Your Home
One of the most cost-effective ways to improve a home’s energy efficiency and air quality is to seal up cracks and holes at least once a year. Many homeowners may not realize just how much of their hot and cold air is escaping through openings in almost every room in their house. Some of the most important places to seal or insulate include the attic, mail slots, windows, doorways, and old vents or ducts.

It often takes just a few basic upgrades and changes to drastically improve energy efficiency in a home. These few simple tips could help you save hundreds on energy bills every single year without sacrificing your home’s comfort.