Adding solar panels into your home can be incorporated into the design of your home especially if it is being built from the ground upwards. With a good architect, you can build a fantastic looking home with all the necessary things in having a sustainable home whilst looking stunning. The days are now gone when your sustainable home resembles a hippy commune.
Going green does not mean unstylish, a home with careful planning, and the right designer will build you a phenomenal looking house, whilst including all aspects of a self-sufficient sustainable home. When building a home from the footings upwards, there are many ways that you can add all kinds of sustainable materials into the home.
Solar panels are now being included in lots of homes that are being built in many countries. New builds in housing projects are including solar panels as a way to help the local councils in recouping some of the outlay of providing new homes. When trying to find solar panels for your home you may want to look into something that will help like a solar panels for your home guide will help in sourcing the most suitable product to purchase.
Designing a home
Designing your home can be as extravagant as you would want it to be, depending on your budget, and what you want from a functioning home is down to what lifestyle you want to achieve. If you are giving your home an overhaul completely this will take time and effort in planning it in the correct way to ensure you get the best design possible, with the most sustainable way of living incorporated into this.
Looking at what you want to have included in your home is firstly where you will need to begin. The planning will take time, when planning you can add or take away what you want in your list of priorities. Getting everything into writing and working out the budget to what you want to spend is the priority.
Working out the costs for each room is key to getting your works done and completed within budget. For example, if installing a completely new kitchen, will cost more than, say a new living or dining room. Your budget should include items such as light switches, home appliances, and costs of material and all works including any tradesmen that may be needed.
The garden
Are you including the garden in your building works? If so, is it better to complete the garden first? Or is this something that you are not sure your budget can stretch to so you want to leave it till the last min? Looking at the pros and cons of what will benefit your household as a family unit may be something you wish to look at before getting started.
When looking at the garden look at what needs to be done first, fixing fences or walls to secure safety, adding a new lawn to cover unwanted dirt. Are there things that need doing? that you can keep adding to when you have spare money at the end of the month? Things like adding solar lights to your garden? may not need to be done in one go; you can add a few at a time until you get your desired look.
When making a vegetable garden starts with the amount of room you need realistically, then set out the boundaries for this. Having the basic outline for the room that your vegetable patch then adding to it as and when you have time at a later date may be something you wish to look into. Once your redesign is underway and you are finding some ways to relax and enjoy your spare time.
Things that you wouldn’t necessarily think of
Although having a vegetable garden is a great way to help in sustaining an eco-friendly home, the water that it will take to help your garden grow is not eco-friendly, if it is coming from the hosepipe. Look into rainwater barrels that can be placed into the garden, collecting all the rainfall is a great way to water your plants, without being a drain on resources.
Firepits, entertaining in the home is becoming more fashionable, with many people opting to do this rather than going out to socialize. Fire Pits are used to heat the garden area you can entertain your guests in. opting for a firepit is a good way to get rid of unwanted wood that is not going to be of any use for other things, for instance, branches that are needed to be removed from trees, the neighbors will also get on board with this when they have unwanted wood as well.
Compost heaps are becoming a good way of getting rid of unwanted vegetable peelings and fruit peelings while adding good vitamins to your garden soil when growing your plants or trees. Although these take a little time to get going, it is something that can be done without the need for your garden to be at the finished stage. Find a spot out of the way where it can be kept long term.
Items for inside the home that seems like a big payout but will save you money in the future
Things that you may use daily do add up in the long run when they need to keep being replaced. So when looking into items for your home paying out a little bit extra, can sometimes save you expenses in the long term.
Straws, many homes use straws especially if there are children in and out of the home on a daily or weekly basis. Plastic straws are cheap, but they are damaging to the environment. They are often a pain to the store because they come in large packets often containing 20/30/ or even 100 at a time. Look into bamboo or metal straws. The expense may be more but they are eco-friendly and you can make a feature of them, or simply just store these more neatly.
Thinking about your pantry or cupboards, how many times do you look into your overwhelming food store and think what a mess it looks like? With packets everywhere and the never ending job of having to keep organizing can seem like a never ending task. So when you are at the end of jam or pickles give these glass jars a good clean and keep them instead, storing your flour or sugar in these glass jars not only looks nicer but it saves the environment too.
Conclusion
The redesign of your home can be as bold and as daring as you want it to be, using your imagination, the way to obtain the maximum eco-friendly ways in doing so is endless. From solar panel lighting to collecting rainwater, the more you do the more you will find that you can do.
Try not to think of this as just a new home, but think of this as a new lifestyle choice for your whole family. With more and more things to gain in self sustainability, helping your family in the simple things will have great results for everyone. The environment will benefit, as well as your health.
Keeping organized with structure, ideas, and finances, along the way, this project can be one of the most enjoyable things that as a family, you may ever do. Getting everyone involved, in the end, results will astound you!