To avoid falling victim to unnecessary power consumption, use smart power bars. There are various types on the market, but look for smart power strips that come with timers and can automatically cut off power to electronics that are in standby mode or simply left on needlessly.

Some smart power strips also have features to monitor energy consumption and provide reports that can help you optimize your electricity usage and save money. Alternatively, you may want to engage an electrician to replace your current wall outlets with smart receptacles to get the same benefits but with a cleaner, built-in look.

You can't save on energy unless you know how you're using it. Getting an energy audit is the best way to understand what upgrades you should be making and it helps to identify if your home is running efficiently and effectively. A great way to save money in the long term is to upgrade older appliances such as fridges, washers and dryers to newer, energy-efficient models.

Look for ENERGY STAR®-certified appliances. For example, a dryer with an ENERGY STAR label uses 20 per cent less energy than standard models. It often will also have built-in sensors to detect when your clothes are dry, saving you both energy and valuable time.

Appliances that are ENERGY STAR®-certified may also help keep your monthly electricity bills down. Washing machines with the ENERGY STAR label, for example, use 25 per cent less energy and 33 per cent less water than standard products.

Similarly, ENERGY STAR®-certified refrigerators are nine per cent more energy efficient than standard products and use only half the energy of older models. If your budget stretches to some bigger home renovation ideas, consider installing solar panels.

You can save around £ a year on your bills based on a typical installation with occupants at home from 6pm, in north England and reduce your carbon footprint by kg of carbon emissions a year. You can even be paid for any surplus energy you export to the grid via the Smart Export Guarantee SEG.

Heat pumps are an attractive longer-term, sustainable heating option. The most common heat pump for homes is an air source heat pump. Your carbon footprint will see an impressive drop: replacing your old gas boiler with an air source heat pump, for example, will reduce your carbon emissions by up to 1,kg a year 3,kg in NI.

Whether you're short of cash, or have money for home energy efficiency improvements, check out these tips to suit a range of…. Our experts will be sharing their top tips at Grand Designs Live on how to live a low carbon lifestyle.

More than half the UK population is open to the idea of a green mortgage, with almost two-thirds of people likely to…. You must accept preferences cookies to view location-specific content. Blog Post 25 May Updated 22 January Home energy tips. Thinking about making improvements or upgrades to your home?

Kitchen appliances. Bathroom You might not think of the bathroom as somewhere that uses lots of energy, but water usage does contribute to our energy use and household emissions. Keeping your home warm Heating your home makes up a significant part of your energy bills.

Add draught-proofing. Bigger ideas. Install solar panels. Recommendations show how to improve the energy efficiency of the home to achieve a higher score and save money. Ultra-efficient homes combine state-of-the-art energy-efficient construction, appliances, and lighting with commercially available renewable energy systems, such as solar water heating and solar electricity.

By taking advantage of local climate and site conditions, designers can often also incorporate passive solar heating and cooling and energy-efficient landscaping strategies.

The intent is to reduce home energy use as cost-effectively as possible, and then meet the reduced load with on-site renewable energy systems. Cool roofs use highly reflective materials to reflect more light and absorb less heat from sunlight, which keeps homes cooler during hot weather.

Passive solar home design takes advantage of climatic and site conditions to provide heating in the winter and cooling in the summer. Earth-sheltered homes can be built underground or bermed, and—when well designed and built—can be comfortable, durable, and energy-efficient.

Straw bale buildings were fairly common in the United States between and , but it wasn't until the mid- to lates that building codes began to acknowledge them as a viable approach. Two current straw bale construction methods include non-load-bearing or post-and-beam, which uses a structural framework with straw bale in-fill, and load-bearing or "Nebraska style," which uses the bearing capacity of the stacked bales to support roof loads.

To learn about the building code standards for your state, contact your city or county building code officials.