Making your lifestyle eco-friendlier is becoming increasingly more important in today’s day and age. Each person has a responsibility to the environment and many are investing in their homes and business premises to accommodate for this. There are plenty of ways to make your home eco-friendly and it’s vital to also ensure your garage isn’t neglected in that respect.
These are 5 tips on how to be eco-friendly with your garage.
1) Insulate Your Garage
Making sure your garage is well insulated throughout the year can really help stop energy from escaping. Insulating your garage, however, is not the same as insulating your home. Typically, garages aren’t heated or cooled, so the exterior walls don’t necessarily need insulation.
• Walls
Shared walls with the interior of your home need proper insulation to make sure your home is up to local codes. If your garage is heated, insulation is even more important and sometimes, required. This not only adds an extra layer of protection but also reduces your home’s energy use for heating and cooling.
• Garage Door
Weather stripping or using a garage door threshold seal to line the bottom of your garage helps to keep outdoor weather out, while keeping the temperature of your garage similar to your home. Be sure to also survey the perimeter of your garage doors in Adelaide for any large openings or cracks to seal, while also remembering to replace any weather stripping over time. Insulating your garage properly means you’ll need to use your heating and cooling systems less.
2) Get Green Appliances
Many people use the garage as an extension to their home for hosting a fridge, deep freezer, washing machine or a dryer. As these are all essential appliances in every home, why not shop around to find the energy-efficient models? It may seem like you’re paying a huge amount of money for a new machine now, but you will be saving more in energy costs in the long run, while preventing the production of tons of greenhouse gases.
3) Re-consider Your Lighting
You may not think your garage needs windows but installing them can help make your garage eco-friendlier.
Windows allow for natural sunlight to help you consume less power, using electric lighting during the day. They also help warm up your garage on sunny winter days, while installing some black-out blinds is wise for keeping cool inside, during the summer time. For lights during nights and darker areas, be sure to opt for LED light bulbs as they are known for their energy-efficiency, durability and unmatched brightness.
4) Consider The Roof of Your Garage
There are a number of ways you can use your roof to go green in your garage. Most new build homes have solar panels attached to their roofs. Solar panels generate clean, renewable energy from the sun, while cutting your energy bills and increasing the value of your home.
Installing a rain barrel on your garage roof that connects to your garage, will collect rainwater in a rain barrel that links up to your gutters, to make your home immediately more environmentally-friendly. Using this to wash your car or clean your patio could save you from wasting water from a tap.
Other ways of utilising your garage to go green, include; building a living roof or a green roof on top of your garage, with beautiful flowers and herbs that will leave your driveway smelling fresh all season.
5) Transform Your Garage into a Recycling Hub
Recycling is always a certified way to go green. Using your garage can make it even easier. Be sure to set up a recycling station with different bins for different types of recycling, so that you can reduce your footprint on the environment.
Making your garage eco-friendlier is not only good for the environment, but it also makes your space more convenient and less costly. If you’re looking for eco-friendly custom garage doors in Adelaide, then look no further than AllStyle Garage Doors & Window Shutters. Contact us today to find out more about how we can help you find the perfect eco-friendly garage door for you.