What is your first thought when you want to reduce your energy bills? Probably upgrading some part of your home comes to mind. Upgrading interior elements of your home can dramatically impact your utility bills, but so can upgrading your exterior elements. When choosing new siding, doors, and windows, or even soffits for your roof, energy efficiency should always be a part of your calculations. Every little impact you can make on reducing your energy usage matters, both for your utility bill and the environment. Here are 4 exterior home upgrades to reduce energy bills.
How Big Will The Change Be?
Will these exterior home upgrades pay for themselves? It is unlikely that you’ll see the kind of energy reduction from changing up your soffits as you would from changing your insulation, for example. Still, depending on the current state of your home exterior, you may see substantial changes that will add up with time. And major changes like siding can add much more energy efficiency than you might expect.
Few people choose to make window and door upgrades just to save on their utility bill. Instead, they are more likely to upgrade their home’s exterior because it is dated or damaged, and then try to make the most energy-efficient decisions that they can. If that’s you, this guide should help you make good choices.
4 Exterior Home Upgrades To Reduce Energy Bills
Siding
One of the most impactful energy-efficient upgrades you can make to the exterior of your home is your siding. Siding wraps around your home and can help it retain significant heat in the winter. There are new foam-backed vinyl siding options designed to work even in very low temperatures, providing your home with some buffer from the cold outdoors. Likewise in the summer, the same siding will also repel heat from outside, helping to keep your home cooler on the inside. The result is that you use less energy for heating and cooling, reducing your utility bills.
There are also small venting holes in the newest vinyl and aluminum siding material, which don’t allow much heat out but do allow moisture through, so there is less chance of mold or mildew growth.
There are other benefits of getting new siding for your home, including dramatically changing the aesthetics of your home and greatly improving its curb appeal. Siding is perhaps the most impactful choice to change the appearance of your home exterior.
Doors
Your doors aren’t just access points for your home. They also play a large role in keeping it energy efficient. When the door is closed, it can either let small amounts of heat through or provide more insulation to stop the heat in its tracks. This is beneficial in the winter, when your doors keep heat in, and beneficial in the summer when they keep heat out.
While glass can undermine the overall energy efficiency of your doors, modern glass construction and other high-quality materials can make up for this and still provide strong insulation. Don’t forget that when it comes to energy efficiency, your front door is far from the only one that matters. Your patio door or back or side doors also matter too. When you upgrade them all at once, you can choose a consistent energy efficiency for them.
Windows
In the past, we truly struggled to make glass an energy-efficient material. When you place your hand on the glass, you’ll notice that it cools or warms you immediately, as it conducts heat easily. But modern construction methods now involve inserting thick gases between the panes of glass. These gases significantly limit the transfer of heat all the way through the glass. As a result, you have a window that will keep the air in your home, which is beneficial for energy efficiency in every season.
There are many options when it comes to choosing energy-efficient windows. While any new window is a huge energy-saving upgrade over older windows, even if you have relatively new windows you can likely find still better models which exceed your current windows’ energy efficiency. It’s certainly worth exploring the options available to you.
Soffits And Fascia
Not every homeowner is familiar with soffits and fascia. The fascia is the edge board of your roof, and the soffit is the part just beneath it that blocks off the underside of the edge of the roof from the elements. The soffit needs to have vents in it in order to let hot air from your home escape.
In summer, if your soffit does not have proper venting, the hot air gets trapped in your home and can significantly impact how hard your air conditioner needs to work in order to cool the house. You can drastically improve your energy efficiency just by installing the right number of vents in the right places. This is definitely one of the exterior home upgrades to reduce energy bills that homeowners don’t often think about.
What About Interior Home Upgrades?
Yes, interior home upgrades can be great ways to promote energy efficiency too. However, you might find that the exterior of your home has been neglected in terms of greener choices. Most people end up choosing a highly efficient water heater for example, while few understand the full impact a simple soffit vent can have. You might find that your best bet to make the biggest impact on your home’s efficiency is to focus on these external energy-efficient home upgrades.
Choose Weaver Exterior Remodeling Today
Which of these exterior home upgrades to reduce energy bills is right for you? How much will it reduce your heating and cooling bills? Are there style options that you like? We have the answers for you. Our team is ready to help you get the new energy-efficient home upgrades you need to save on your utility bills and make your home’s exterior look brand new.