The best low-cost eco-friendly home improvements you can do
Sustainability, on a shoestring? Yes please.
What if you had only $100 to invest in a cheaper, cleaner home? Or $10? Or even just $1? The conversation about cutting your emissions is often about big-ticket items: Stoves, furnaces, cars and other changes.
But millions of people are neither ready nor able to spend thousands of dollars. What if you didn’t need to?
I asked energy experts, efficiency engineers and readers how to get the biggest climate bang for your buck, whether you rent or own your home.
I wanted investments that turned a few dollars into a fistful of them, while cutting emissions within a few months or sooner.
I was not disappointed. There’s money just lying around your house squirrelled away in floor joists, behind air ducts and even under the bedspread. You just need to know where to look.
I’ve catalogued the best ideas to invest in the climate – and your comfort – by price, from $100 down to zero. And I’m sure there are many more.
Push your lawn mower
Cost: Starts around $100.
Why it works: Stuck cutting grass behind a belching engine? First, plant a tidy wildland – a mostly natural backyard with only a small area of grass that you have to mow. Next, try a push reel mower. I was hard-pressed to find one on Google Shopping that didn’t have four or fivestar reviews.
Have an attic? Pitch a tent
Cost: $100 to $240.
Why it works: The simple devices are usually made of nylon, insulation and Velcro, and fit over the attic opening. They cover the draughty space created by a poorly-sealed ceiling access to your attic.
Every time your heating or cooling system turns on, you’re pushing pressurised air out of your home. If there’s a gap where your stairs enter the attic, air will rush out there. A simple insulation cover cuts heat loss dramatically by stopping leaks, while keeping out insulation and dust particles that might drift down.
Close your chimney
Cost: $50 to more than $300.
Why it works: Fireplaces and old furnaces vent outdoors. If your chimney or flue isn’t sealed off when not in use, it’s a clean shot for all your warm air to leave your home,, says Christian Kaltreider, a researcher at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), one of the US Energy Department’s research centres.
A simple and inexpensive fix is to rig up your own seal by inserting a well-fitted piece of insulating material or buying a chimney seal or damper available online.
These can range from cast iron plates or doors that sit inside your chimney to top-sealing ones that cap the top. There are also draught stoppers made out of flexible material. You won’t be able to burn anything in your fireplace while the damper is in, but it will prevent air from leaving your flue and eliminate draughts.
Manage phantom loads
Cost: Starts around $50.
Why it works: Your house is filled with vampires, devices that suck power even when they’re not turned on.
The average home has about 40 of them, from plasma TVs to printers. They consume 5 to 10% of the United States’ energy, according to Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and generate 1% of global carbon emissions.
How do you know what’s sucking power? You can measure it by using a plug-in power consumption meter or wi-fi smart plugs. While not much on their own, these loads can be like adding an extra week or month to your utility bill.
Electric blankets are hot
Cost: Start around $70.
Why it works: If you want something cheaper to stay warm after turning down your heating at night, try heated blankets and mattress pads. Since these draw 50 to 200 watts, similar to an old incandescent lightbulb, the cost to run them could be as little as $40 a year.
Switch to LEDs
Cost: Starts at $1.
Why it works: The latest generation of LED bulbs are 90% more efficient than incandescent bulbs, and they’re cheaper and more reliable than earlier versions.
“If you’re not sure if a fixture can be replaced [with an LED],” says Edward Louie, an energy-efficiency engineer at PNNL, “the answer is yes. For pretty much every single fixture, there’s a way to do it.”