10 Ways To Make Your Home Energy-efficient

Not too long ago in our country’s history, talking about making your house “greener” might get you labeled a hippie tree-hugger. But times change, and as gas, electricity, and water prices creep up, more and more homeowners are seeing the (strong) advantages that come with considering the environment when you make decisions about your household.

Are you interested in making your home more energy-efficient — and saving money in the bargain? You have a lot of options, from cheap to expensive, so read on to discover whether there are some big (or small) energy-saving opportunities that you’re missing.

1. Get an energy audit

Most utility companies offer an energy audit, oftentimes for free: 

They’ll send an expert out to your house to take a look at all your appliances, your lights, your windows, your doors, and more — then make recommendations for changes you can make that will save energy (and money) every month.

If you want a personalized rundown of everything you could do to and for your house to make it more energy-efficient and environmentally friendly, an energy audit is a must.

2. Swap out your lightbulbs

Compact fluorescent or even LED bulbs are more expensive than incandescent bulbs, but they also last at least 10 times longer than incandescents and use only about 25% of the energy of an incandescent bulb.

As your incandescent light bulbs flicker out, consider replacing them with a greener alternative. And if you decide to swap them all out at once, you’ll start seeing a difference pretty quickly in your utility bills!

3. Pay attention to the sun

There’s a lot you can do to heat and cool your home without spending any money at all — but you’ll need to keep tabs on where the sun is in the sky. 

  • In the northern hemisphere, windows with southern exposure are going to get the most direct sunlight, so start with those. 
  • Make note of whether and when the sun shines into your home across every season, then adjust your habits (and your blinds) accordingly.
  • For example, if the sun is shining directly into your house during the winter season, then you might be able to save some money on your heating bill by opening up all your curtains and blinds in the morning to allow the sun in. But if you’re getting that direct sunlight in the dead heat of summer, then the opposite applies: Close your blinds and curtains in the morning to keep your house cool.

4. Weather-stripping your windows

Especially in some older houses, sometimes windows might not be entirely airtight — meaning that you’ve got drafts from the outside sneaking hot or cold air into your home against your wishes.

A relatively cheap and easy fix is weatherstripping your windows to eliminate those drafts and ensure that what’s outside doesn’t creep inside and vice versa. It’s as simple as a trip to a hardware store and a few minutes to weatherstrip each window back at the house.

5. Turn down your water heater

Hot water feels amazing in the shower … but here’s the thing: Your water heater is constantly working to keep its water consistently hot, and if you’ve got the gauge set at a high temperature, then “consistently hot” takes a lot of energy to maintain.

  • Take a look at your water heater’s settings and ask yourself if the hot water really needs to be as hot as you have it. 
  • Turning down the temperature ten or even five degrees can result in some surprising savings — and you might not even notice when you’re mixing that hot water with cold for your ablutions!

6. Collect rainwater

Depending on where you live, the weather might be an asset that you haven’t tapped yet. You can’t use rainwater for everything, or even very many things — you can’t drink it, and you won’t want to use it to cook, wash dishes, or bathe with — but if you keep a cistern of rainwater in your yard, then you’ll always have a green way to water your grass and flowers in the spring and summer.

7. Swap out your showerheads

If you like to take long showers, this fix can be especially helpful: Change your current shower head for a low-flow version that uses less water. These often have several settings for pressure and spray so that you can customize your shower experience — and you probably won’t even notice that you’re using significantly less water once you make the change.

8. Buy a smarter thermostat

You don’t necessarily need a “smart” thermostat for your home (although it’s always nice to change the temperature using a phone app from the couch — just saying!), but if you don’t have a thermostat that you can adjust to change the temperature at different times of the day, then you should definitely invest in one.

For example, you could set your thermostat to lower the temperature of the house by 10 to 15 degrees when you’re at work during the day, and instruct it to start bringing the temperature back up to “normal” an hour to 30 minutes before you arrive home. Many thermostats even let you designate temperature by days of the week, so if you know that you’re almost never home on Saturday night or Sunday morning, you can adjust your temperature accordingly.

9. Air-seal (and maybe insulate) your attic and basement

You may know that heat rises, and that applies as much inside your house as it does in the world outside. 

That means a drafty attic could result in a lot of energy spent keeping the house warm in the wintertime, and it won’t do you any favors in the summer, either. An uninsulated basement can also let in cold air in the wintertime and out in the summertime. Check to see if your basement and attic are air-sealed and insulated. If not, consider investing in an upgrade.

10. Use a manual push mower

If you live in a region where grass grows like weeds and you don’t need to water, then maybe it makes perfect sense to keep your lawn … but you’ll still need to mow it regularly. One greener alternative to a riding mower or a motorized push version is an old-fashioned manual push mower. They do work, but you’ll be using your own elbow grease instead of gasoline to power the blades, so you’ll get a workout while you mow.

Deciding to make your home more energy-efficient can involve a simple move like turning off water to rarely used sinks and toilets, or as complicated and involved as replacing appliances and installing solar panels. Figure out your ideal level of investment and take things one step at a time — before you know it, you’ll have a green home that saves money without sacrificing comfort.

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Caitlyn Weiman

Caitlyn has been running the operations at Lark + Co since fall of 2022. She has also been licensed in real estate sales since 2013, and enjoys working with first-time homebuyers and investors, alike. Caitlyn enjoys running numbers and helping clients find the right rental mix for their properties.

Caitlyn has a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Colorado Denver with an emphasis on Sculpture, but these days art is just for fun when she assists Kristin with furnishing and design. She lives in Brighton with her husband, daughter, cat, and dog. They enjoy going to “the lake” on the weekends in the summer or Sunday movie days in the colder months.

Kim Nicol

Portfolio Manager

Lark is excited to have Kim join our team as our Portfolio Manager. Kim brings her organizational skills and upbeat attitude to help us keep things running smoothly. 

Kim was born in California and moved to Colorado in 2019. She has a background in Early Childhood Education and management.  Kim loves children and has adored her years teaching, nurturing and helping them grow, but was looking for new challenges.

She has always had a passion for Real Estate and is excited to start her path in this career. Kim lives in Brighton with her husband, four kids, two dogs and three lizards. She enjoys being outdoors, spending quality time with her kiddos, and shopping for fun new water tumblers.

Kristin Johnson

(Owner)

Kristin became a licensed Real Estate Agent in 2016 and joined Re/Max Synergy In 2020 in order to help build a property management division. In 2022 in collaboration with her colleagues Kristin decided to open Lark+CO in order to provide an array of Real Estate services to her clients under one roof. These services currently include buying, selling and marketing single family and multi-family homes, property management for single and multi-family furnished and unfurnished rentals as well as design services. In the near future we are excited to add lending and insurance to our portfolio of offerings.

Before getting into Real Estate, Kristin worked in business to business sales where she ran high producing sales teams and developed lasting relationships with vendors, associates and local organizations. Kristin loves meeting and connecting with people – especially potential buyers, business partners, investors and tenants to discuss and understand their specific needs and aspirations. Kristin will find something unique that is tailored to their goals and collaborate on business growth strategies. Kristin successfully sets rents in the Colorado market while helping clients earn their highest potential on their rental properties to achieve financial goals and freedoms.

Kristin adores living in Colorado and enjoys all of the outdoor activities that Colorado has to offer. Her favorite is spending time in the mountains with family and friends, her Bernese Mountain dog Hugo, and Lhasa Poo Lola. Vail holds a special place in her family’s hearts and you can find them relaxing in and fishing by the Gore Creek, riding bikes down the gorgeous bike path to Vail Village, skiing the idyllic snow covered runs or cooking up delicious treats with her children.

Kristin enjoys work to the fullest and is excited for the opportunity to be working with you to find the house of your dreams, managing your rental properties or helping you expand your investment portfolio.