Over recent years there is huge investment to the building of eco-homes, with billions being spent globally on ensuring the next generation of housing is an eco one. These environmentally friendly housing are built to be as carbon neutral as possible and designed to be efficient to heat and light.

However, whilst new eco friendly homes are great fro those buying a brand new house, most of us are living in properties that are decades (some even centuries) old. An while older properties like these certainly have more character than modern properties, many are quite inefficient to heat and not only does lead to more power consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, they also cost more to heat and light.
However, much can be done with an older property to increase the eco friendly nature of the heating systems and lighting. And almost any home can be turned into a more environmentally friendly home by remembering just three key points:

• Waste
• Efficiency
• Energy Monitoring

By tackling waste, increasing efficiency and monitoring the energy consumed you can go a long way to increase the green credentials of your property.

Waste
Huge amounts of energy is being wasted by many homes because they lack adequate insulation. Insulating your home is perhaps the easiest way of dramatically reducing energy waste. Not only should lofts be well insulated but its important to ensure that heat is not escaping through other areas such as under doors or via chimneys. Use draft excluders and chimney balloons to ensure this doesn't happen.

Efficiency
The efficiency of both heating and lighting can be greatly increased. Use energy saving light bulbs and make sure you have a good light shade to direct the light where it's needed. Ensure your boiler is serviced regularly and make sure the radiators are bled regularly. Automatic Radiator Valves are available to do this for you. You can also use radiator panels to reflect the lost heat from the back of the radiators.

Energy Monitoring
Monitoring your energy consumption will enable you to identify waste and areas of high usage around the home. There are a wide range of energy and electricity monitors available that make this a simple task. ezinearticles