Here is how you can make your home healthy and energy efficient

Always wanted to make your home healthy and energy efficient but never knew where you could start? Here are a few ways that you can make your house a better place to live in, while also making it more energy efficient and sustainable.

LED lighting

LED lighting is a concept that we all know about but why again are LED lights better than their predecessor lightbulbs? For a start, they are one the most cost-effective energy efficient lamps on the market, they use around 80% less energy than conventional incandescent lamps and around 70% less energy than Halogen lamps paying themselves off in no time. Another reason they are so great is because they are safer, more reliable and have a much longer life than other lightbulbs lasting up to 25,000 hours on average. Compare that to the 1000 hours of an old incandescent lamp or the 10,000 hours of a Halogen and you can see why they are the go-to choice. If you want to reduce your living expenses, while also making your home eco-friendlier, have a think about switching to LED lights. Your home will light up and the earth will thank you for your choices!

Whole home ventilation

Installing a mechanical ventilation system across your whole home will help keep the nasty mould, dampness, and condensation out, they. Some benefits of a mechanical ventilation include:

• Improved comfort. Regulate the temperature in your home, helping reduce the need to turn air conditioning or heating on, mechanical ventilation systems allow a constant flow of outside air into the home and can also provide filtration, dehumidification, and conditioning of the incoming outside air.
• Better Indoor Air Quality. Indoor air can be many times more polluted than outdoor air, and with a lot more people working from home these days you can see how this can be an issue. Ventilation systems can significantly improve a home’s air quality by removing allergens, pollutants, and moisture that can cause mould problems.
• Provide more control. When homes rely on air flow through walls, roofs, and windows for ventilation, there is no control over the source or amount of air that comes into the house. In fact, air leaking into the house may come from undesirable areas such as the garage, attic, or crawl space. Mechanical ventilation systems, however, provide proper fresh air flow along with appropriate locations for intake and exhaust.

There are many types of mechanical ventilation options that suit the many different types of properties around Wellington, so getting the right system for the job is important, MC electrical can guide you through this and help make your property healthier, dryer and more comfortable to live in.

Whole home heating and Heat pumps

Heat pumps are one of the most energy efficient forms of heating systems available in New Zealand, they have an average energy efficiency rating of around 1:4 meaning they use 1kw of electrical energy to produce around 4kw of heat energy. They do this by Absorbing energy from the air outside and transferring it to the inside, they are the most energy efficient way to keep your family warm in those cold winter months. Switching to a heat pump will bring additional benefits to both your house and the people living in it as they can also be used to cool in the hotter months, and they have the ability to dehumidify the rooms they are in, What’s not to love! With a range of options and products to suit your needs you’ll find you can get a solution for just about any property.

Solar installations

Being able to harness the power of the sun has been a goal of humanity since the beginning of time and now anyone can do it. Solar panels have been around for a while, but recently they have started to become more affordable, and more popular. Being able to generate your own clean renewable energy is considered one of the most energy efficient things you can do and luckily solar panels have an infinite amount of energy to create as long as the sun doesn’t disappear – in which case we don’t think generating your own energy will be high on your list of priorities. Once they are installed, depending on the system, you can see significant reductions on your power bill, if you have battery back-up (Which we think is key to a good solar system) you can reap the benefits long after the sun goes down. They are not a cheap investment but if done right they pay themselves off and save you money in the long run while. If you would like to find a way to help the environment and make your home energy efficient, they are a great way to make a start.

Hot water heat pumps

Hot Water heat pumps offer an extremely energy efficient way to heat the water in your home or property. They work similarly to heat pumps, using the heat in the air around them to warm the water up in the water tank. With a similar energy efficiency ratio as normal heat pumps you would be using up to 75% energy to heat your water and with a variety of options including retrofits to existing systems there is something for everyone. You can also use these systems to heat your home with underfloor heating and radiator installations, using one system to heat your home and your hot water is an efficient way to go.

Double glazing/triple glazing

Double and triple glazing help keep your property insulated and prevent energy loss by using air as an insulating barrier. In return this will make your house Warm, healthy and more energy efficient, by keeping the cold damp air out and keeping the warmth in, reducing the time and energy you need to heat up your property. Now being electricians this is not something we can do (We could try but it wouldn’t end well) but we highly recommend it to make your home more energy efficient and comfortable to live in.

Insulating the home

Insulating your home, much like double glazing, will help keep the generated energy in between the walls of your home and prevent it from escaping. Without having a well-insulated home, your energy efficient and eco-friendly ways may not work as ideally as you’d like. In addition, it also will make your home healthy, by keeping it warm and dry, even in the coldest of months. If you want your home to be more energy efficient, have a think about properly insulating your house.

If you would like your home to be healthier and energy efficient get in touch with our team who can help you make the above mentioned concepts possible, – as a side note we cannot do Solar installations as of yet but it is coming so stay tuned, we also have recommendations for sub-contractors for insulation and double glazing if you wish!