Going Green – Some Easy and Some Hard Ways to Go Green

Lighting is one of the first places to start. In a few short years you will no longer be able to buy incandescent light bulbs. Compact florescence bulbs are here to stay. They are a lot cheaper than they were a few years ago and definitely save lots of energy. The next step in saving even more will be the transition to LED lights. Right now they are more expensive, but as they gain in popularity the price will decrease.

Light wells are a way to take advantage of the natural light and bring it into the interior of the house. Light wells do take a bit more work but the advantage will be that you don’t have to pay for lighting the house in the middle of the day. Of course these will not work if you are trying to install them on the first floor of a two-story house. But if you have a one story or access to the roof to the ceiling of the floor biophilic design that you want to light you are in luck. Installing these tube lighting systems is not that difficult. Most of the time flashing the tube top to the roofing is the most difficult part, most kits include all the things that you will need to do this project.
Double pane windows are a must in every home. In older homes you are losing a lot of energy out your single pane windows. Unless they have been taken care of over the years some of the glazing will have fallen out. These types of windows never fit very well to begin with and they have just gotten worse over the years. They are made out of wood and wood will shrink in the summer and expand in the winter, thus not sealing well anytime of the year. Upgrading to new vinyl windows will decrease the amount of weather entering the home and the amount of ultraviolet also entering the home, less solar gain the less you have air condition your home. The less heat out the windows in the winter the less you have to heat.

Caulking is an easy and quick way to improve the weather proofing of your home. Caulking can be done in both the interior as well as the exterior of your house. On the interior use a good kitchen and bathroom latex caulking. On the exterior use exterior grade chalking or a silicone that can be painted. On the interior for around the windows and doors sealing the window to the trim and the trim to the drywall. Make sure you use small amounts because you want to drag it smooth with your finger to make it look the best, if you apply too much you will just be taking that much more off. If you have finished wood in your house use clear silicone. On the exterior you need to be careful as to where to install the caulking. Your house need to have a place to remove the water that gets behind the siding, otherwise it will just stay behind and rot the walls. The sides and bottom of windows is a great place to caulk but the top should be left alone as it has flashing already and that is a place for the water to get out. The doors are the same way. Under the eaves is a great place to begin, if water can’t get in at the top it doesn’t have to come out. Check for any caulking that is failing and make sure to remove and replace this caulking. Doing these items will keep water and wind out of your house and lessening your heating and air conditioning needs.