How To Make Your Ordinary Home Super Green

New popular shows like Greenovate show ordinary homes that have been transformed into green homes. Here are some ways you can make your home more energy efficeint and green.

It is possible, without spending a fortune to make your home a green home and increase the energy efficiency of your home.

Where should you start to make your home more energy efficient? It depends on how old your home is and what the nature of your home is that makes it not "green".

If you have an older home it may not be very well insulated. Consider having an insulation company come out and spray cellulose insulation into the attic and into voids in exterior walls. You can do it yourself by buying bales of cellulose from home improvement stores and spraying it in yourself. Often the blower is free to use if you buy more than ten or so bales.

If your appliances are old and not Energy Star consider upgrading them. Check for sales and ones with very slight dents that may be hundreds less.

Another step you can take to make your home more energy efficent is to Insulate your hot water heater with a special insulating jacket. These sell for around $30 and save that much in a couple of months. Turn down the hot water heater as well, since most are set too high. If it is old and needs replacing consider a rooftop solar hot water heater or a gas demand hot water heater that uses energy only when you need hot water, not to keep a tankful hot all the time.

The next step you can take to make your home more green and energy efficient is to check the seal around your windows. Add caulking if needed. If you cannot afford to replace them use insulated blinds or drapes. Solar sun shades on outside west and southern facing windows helps keep your home cool in summer.

Plant fast growing trees on the west and south side of the home to help keep it cool, preferably ones that loose their leaves in winter so you get heat gain then. Using passive methods like these is a good way to make your home more green.

Your toilet, if more that a few years old, may be a five gallon model. If so replace it with a water saving low flush model or dual flush model. Saving water is an important step in making your home more green.

To make a home truly green try and change your habits such as leaving water running when you brush your teeth and turning lights off. Replace all your bulbs with compact fluorescent and you could see your utility bills go down by ten percent or more.

Try to buy cleaners and household products that are eco friendly. You don't want to be spraying propane around your house and that is just what many air fresheners and other aerosol cans use.

Any home can be green and there are many more ways to do it, some are just common sense. When it comes time to sell consider a green Realtor to get the most out of your improvements. Green homes can sell for up to 40% more than regular ones.

You can find more ways to make your home energy efficeint and more green at Savegreenly