Must-Have Updates for an Energy

Efficient and Eco-Friendly Kitchen

Do you want to join the ‘green’ movement and become more energy-savvy and eco-friendly? One of the best places to start is the kitchen. Even though it usually takes up only a small portion of the total square footage of your home, your kitchen wastes a lot of energy and resources! However, having an energy-efficient kitchen that conserves electricity and water is right within your arm’s reach with these easy and practical updates.

Conserve water

The bathroom and the kitchen have the highest water usage in the whole household. Luckily, there are a few easy fixes you can do in order to reduce water consumption and waste. Start with your dishwasher. If you have an old model, the chances you’re wasting a lot of water are huge! Search online for newer models that work more efficiently and make your dishes sparkly clean with only a fraction of water your old washer used. You can also replace your old taps with low-flow ones that reduce the water flow and prevent too much clean water from being wasted.

Improve your insulation

Unless you’re willing to freeze while making your meals, you must heat your kitchen to boost comfort and usability. However, if your kitchen isn’t properly insulated, you might be throwing a lot of that precious heat right through the window! A lot of heat in the kitchen often gets lost with insufficient floor insulation—about 15% of all heat loss in the household, so pay attention to this neglected part of the kitchen. If you’re undertaking a total kitchen renovation, you might also benefit from putting up internal wall insulation to keep your kitchen nice and toasty and your energy bill low.

Make the right choice

Creating an efficient kitchen often involves many choices and making the right one could be a difference between energy saving and energy waste. For instance, do you know which stove is better, an electric one or a gas one? Electric ones might be a bit more practical, but they use a lot of electricity. Gas stoves, on the other hand, involve handling an open flame, but they heat up instantly and provide a great cooking experience (most chefs swear on gas stoves). So, feel free to ditch electricity in favor of gas! However, make sure to hire professionals to check your gas connection and ensure you’re choosing the right provider that will meet your budget and eco-friendly requirements.

Invest in energy-efficient appliances

One of the biggest energy hogs in an average household is definitely the fridge. Refrigerators consume so much energy that some older models account for almost 20% of the electricity bill! So, if you wish to reduce your bills, replace your old fridge with a newer energy-efficient model. It will pay itself off in a few years by minimizing your energy bill, plus it will look so much better in your kitchen! There are also Energy Star labeled microwaves, dishwashers, coffee machines and other gadgets that will save up some energy and make your life more comfortable.

Replace your traditional bulbs

Kitchens need plenty of good lighting, especially when you’re wielding knives, peelers and graters. However, traditional light bulbs and lighting fixtures can be quite inefficient when it comes to energy consumption. But, if you replace them with Energy Star fixtures and put in LED or CFL bulbs, you’ll get a good lighting setup for your kitchen and use almost 75% less energy and create 70% less heat. Also, these bulbs and fixtures have a much longer lifespan, which means fewer investments and less pollution during the manufacturing process.

Boost natural light

Sure, energy-efficient lighting is great, but there’s nothing more efficient and eco-friendly than the sun! So, make sure to design your kitchen in a way that will let the most light inside and give it big windows. And if you’re worried about losing energy, you can invest in Energy Star windows that are double glazed and well sealed. They provide you with natural light without all the heat loss in the winter and cooling issues in the summer.

Creating an energy-efficient kitchen isn’t as hard and intimidating as it might sound. Good appliance choices, careful water handling and a few well-made decisions are often all you need to lower your energy bills and become more eco-friendly and sustainable. Both your wallet and our planet will be grateful!

By Derek Lotts

TeamDavis

Steve & Miriam are “hardworking”, “extremely professional”, “delightful to work with” and “achieve great results”, what our clients say. ________________________________________________________________________________ For us Real Estate is all about the people, working and helping our clients to achieve major changes and or goals in their lives. We all come to the point where we need to sell a property for a variety of life-changing reasons. We love helping people to make that change, as smoothly and as successfully as possible, no matter what the challenges. We work together as ‘Team Davis’ and sell homes with the promise to be ‘committed to working for our clients’. Our goal is to get the best result for you, as the seller. We use strategic marketing campaigns, active selling, clear communication and strong negotiation. With strict industry laws and rules, we do this while protecting all your interests through compliance. We deliver great results as we aim to work for our clients to secure the best result as we are committed to working for clients. We also give back to our community, which is why we sponsor schools in our local area and find opportunities to get involved in community activities. You can only sell your property once, so it's important to do it well. The key to this is Good Marketing. Marketing is a bit like fishing; you need to cast your net well to find the best buyers who will pay the highest price for your property. When we have found the best buyers, we then focus on negotiating the best result. We are results-driven, with testimonials that testify to our success. So, if you are looking for an experienced real estate sales team, with a commitment to work for you, providing you with a smooth journey through the process while securing the best result, then, please get in touch with us today. Just a little more about Steve and Miriam: Steve has acquired excellent skills in sales and marketing and negotiating major multi-million-dollar contracts in a long career in the printing, publishing and packaging industries. Becoming a National Sales Manager in his 20s, and then General Manager in his 30s. He held senior management positions in a variety of National and International companies with extensive overseas business experience. Miriam’s past experience as a private teacher, facilitator, property manager and sales consultant has given her a clear business head, an eye for detail, oodles of patience, empathetic communication, and organisational skills. In our spare time, we love spending time with our family and enjoy fishing and outdoor activities or just relaxing at our beach home.

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