Eco-Friendly Ways to Increase a Home’s Value

When people think about ways they can be environmentally friendly, they shouldn’t be thinking that they have to spend an exorbitant amount of money to do so. As a matter of fact, being environmentally friendly is actually something that can both save you money, and make you more money, in the long run. This is especially true, in regards to your home. Plenty of environmentally friendly upgrades for your home actually make your home worth more. Here are some ideas of eco-friendly ways to increase your home’s value…

Solar panels

Solar energy is one of the most popular ways that homeowners are incorporating green energy into their houses. This is accomplished by installing solar panels on the roof, which are then stored in a battery in the home. Solar panels are becoming a highly sought after amenity for individuals looking to buy a home. For this reason, not only do solar panels help you cut down on your monthly energy bill, but the costs to install them actually go into the value of the home. No matter what anyone tells you about solar not being efficient, it is not only economically smart to install solar panels, but almost financially incredulous not to.

Window tinting

There are tons of innovations in insulation technology that help cut down on the heating and cooling costs of a modern home. One of these innovations is window tinting, which uses a film tint to add more insulation on all the windows in your home. Window tints cut down on the amount of UV rays that get into your home, which means that the sun doesn’t bake the air in your home through the windows. This saves you on your energy costs, and also makes your home more valuable. In addition, window tinting treatments are incredibly easy to maintain.

Programmable thermostat

Technology, in general, is going to add to the value of your home. People always want the latest and greatest. One green technology that can help improve your home’s value is to get a programmable thermostat, which enables you to set the temperature of your home to match your routine, so that the heating or cooling is only going when you really need it. This makes your home’s climate control system more efficient, and reduces your utility bill, every month.

Tankless water heater

A tankless water heater is not only environmentally friendly, but incredibly convenient, as you will essentially never run out of hot water. Your traditional water heater uses dozens of gallons that it heats up, and then keeps heated up. This wastes tons of energy when you aren’t consistently using hot water, and adds up on your heating bill. A tankless water heats the water up right as soon as you use it, which is incredibly attractive to potential homeowners, and thus increases the value of your home.

Trees

One of the easiest ways to increase the value of your home is to increase its curb appeal, which refers to how nice your home looks from the street as you drive by. One of the best ways to increase curb appeal also happens to be one of the most environmentally friendly, and that’s to plant trees. Trees in a neighborhood can increase property values by as much as 7%. In addition, trees help make the air in a neighborhood better to breathe, and can actually reduce your cooling costs in summer by reducing the temperature around your home (through shade and absorbing sunlight).

Sealing Cracks

One of the biggest ways that home’s are environmentally destructive is through the heating and cooling process, as stated above. For this reason, any method you can do to insulate your home is going to be environmentally friendly, and often improves your home’s value, as well. One of the easiest ways to better insulate your home is to look for air leaks around doors and windows, and then seal those cracks with weather stripping or caulk. This will also reduce your energy bill, over time, sometimes by hundreds of dollars per year.

Source: http://www.greenliving.nicehomelive.com/eco-friendly-ways-to-increase-a-homes-value/