3 Simple Ways to Make Your Home a Safer Place to Live
92% of us live in areas where the outside air is not safe to breathe. 92%! Crazy, isn't it? Outdoor air polluted by vehicles, power generation and industry causes around 3 million deaths globally, leaving much, much room for improvement when it comes to creating healthier, safer living environments.
Fortunately, there are lots of affordable actions you can take to make your home a healthier place to live. Some of these are so simple, you could take them on tomorrow! Let's take a look:
1. Increase ventilation and air flow.
Passive ventilation (made by creating an intentional draft between two open areas across a room) can yield up to 25-50% in energy savings from reduced air conditioning use.
Add a whole house fan into the mix and you have a perfect low-cost, low-energy solution to sweltering heat and indoor air congestion (ask us about them!).
Keep Reading: What Is a Whole House Fan?
2. Insulate your house.
A little technology goes a long way in providing comfortable indoor conditions. Insulation, alongside air sealing around windows and other openings, improves air tightness, keeping good, clean air inside and nasty polluted air outside.
But that's not all! The World Health Organization reports a 15% reduction in missed school days among children in homes that received energy efficiency upgrades because of improved respiratory health. This stuff matters!
Keep Reading: Why Attic Insulation is So Important
3. Put up some blinds.
Blocking unwanted sunlight with blinds and shades does so much to control incoming heat. In fact, adding shutters has been shown to reduce the effect of overheating indoors by a whopping 90%.
As an extra bonus, consider painting your roof white. It sounds a little off the wall, but a bright white roof can reflect as much as 85% of sunlight away from your home. A standard roof will only reflect around 20%.
Keep Reading: Why Won't My House Stay Cool?
What have you done to make your home as safe a place to live as possible? Have you invested in insulation? Made the switch to a whole house fan? If not, give us a call! We've been helping Wyoming and Colorado families make energy efficiency upgrades to their homes since 2008. There's nothing we do better.
