There are a wide variety of different green home improvement options that you can pursue that are going to improve your home. Some of them are time consuming and expensive, but this is not true for all of them. Not all of us have the money necessary for dropping $15,000 on a solar panel installation. Luckily, there are a wide variety of other ways for you to achieve green home improvement in your home, and they do not all require that you drop a lot of money on the improvements. Here are a few different tips and ideas for saving money and building an investment when it comes to green home improvement.

Boost the Efficiency of your Electricity - This one does not even require an investment. Instead, it requires that you replace your air filters every month or two, because as they grow dirtier they are going to grow less effective as well. Another way to boost the efficiency of your electricity as part of green home improvement is to turn electronics and appliances off when they are not being used so that you can save on your electric bill while helping out the environment at the same time.

Use CFL Light Bulbs - These are easy light bulbs and they are cheap despite lasting as much as four times as long as a traditional light bulb. CFL stands for Compact Fluorescent Lighting. You can easily buy these light bulbs in bulk when they are on sale, and simply swap out the older, more obsolete bulbs as they burn out, one by one by one. This doesn't seem like a huge step in the direction of green home improvement, but it has a larger impact than you may realize.

Use a Programmable Thermostat for the Greatest Level of Efficiency - When you are not home, why should you have the air conditioning or the heat cranking at its highest level? This is especially true when you realize that it is possible for you to program your thermostat so that it only cranks right before you get home, or while you are home for long periods of time. This will make sure that your home is comfortable when you are in it, but not when you are not. Make sure that you are programming your thermostat so that you are not wasting energy on something that you are not getting any benefit from.

Insulate your Water Pipes - Pipe jackets happen to be relatively cheap, they install in only 5 minutes and they can save you a lot of work with your hot water heater. Insulate at least five or ten feet of your hot water piping as it leads away from the hot water heater in your garage or basement and you will quickly and easily maximize its effectiveness and efficiency.

Photo Credits: Paul Keller

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Green, Green Tips, Handy Man, home improvement

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Air Conditioning, air filters, appliances, cfl, compact fluorescent lighting, cranks, efficiency, electricity, home improvement, ideas for saving money, improvement options, improvements, light bulb, light bulbs, long periods of time, programmable thermostat, solar panel installation