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Elevating the perceived and real value of your home (and the property as a whole) is a prudent idea, whether you plan to stay put for decades to come, or if you’re thinking of selling the house in the near future. After all, when you upgrade the interior and the exterior, you stand a real chance of selling the property to affluent local and even foreign investors. Now, there are many upgrades you can make to elevate the aesthetic appeal of the property; however, keep in mind that buyers are predominantly looking to achieve higher functionality of living.

It’s important that you try to elevate the value of your home through it’s long-term savings potential, and the best way to do that is to make it as energy-efficient as possible. Today, we’ll be including the best active and passive solutions that will help you increase your home’s resale value.

Start by upgrading old appliances

The first and one of the most obvious ways you can make your home more energy-efficient in the long term is to reduce the wastefulness of the most overworked areas of the household – mainly the kitchen area. The kitchen is typically the main power drain of the household, so you can start by replacing old appliances with their energy-efficient, contemporary counterparts. Be sure to check for the Energy Star rating before choosing a model in order to assess its true power-saving potential.

Going beyond the kitchen, you also want to upgrade old appliances around the household that could be needlessly draining power throughout the day. For example, maybe it’s time to upgrade the AC unit to a more energy-efficient model before you start upgrading the lighting and switch to a smart thermostat.

Switch to energy-efficient lighting

The lighting scheme in your home might be draining your resources without you even realizing it, especially if you’re still lighting the place with incandescent light bulbs. Seeing as it’s not the 1950s anymore and that manufacturers have made great progress in the field of interior and exterior illumination, perhaps now is the right time to upgrade your lighting scheme with LED lights. Doing this will not only allow you to lower your electricity bill over the long term, but it’s also better for the environment.

What’s more, LED lights are highly customizable and they come in a wide range of hues, which allows you to elevate the aesthetic appeal of the interior as well. Updating the lighting scheme is a great way to put the finishing touch when you’re furnishing, as it will help you frame the design and set the mood of every room just right.

Use solar energy to power your home

One of the best home upgrades you can do that will elevate your quality of life and increase the value of your home is to install solar panels that will allow you to one day detach your property from the municipal power grid. Using clean energy is not only the right thing to do in this day and age, but it can also pay off in the long term, with some countries around the world such as Australia actively incentivizing homeowners to leverage solar energy.

For example, the Australian government is popularizing the use of solar energy in the residential sector by offering solar rebates in South Australia in particular where the climate conditions are just right for a year-round “harvest” of solar energy. This allows the Australian homeowners to make their homes greener, to lower their carbon footprint, and to increase the long-term value of their properties in the process. Following their example, be sure to check for solar rebates in your region and capitalize on clean energy in the years and decades to come.

Install the necessary insulation

Energy efficiency is not just about the active conservation features, it’s also about the passive solutions. If you want to create a more sustainable living environment and cut extraneous spending, then you should consider installing the appropriate floor, wall, and roof insulation. While you’re at it, be sure to insulate the windows as well, in order to prevent heat from escaping during winter, and to prevent it from penetrating the interior during the summer.

Don’t forget about the exterior

Finally, be sure to analyze if any of your outdoor appliances are making you waste electricity, or if your outdoor lighting is slowly draining your financial resources. You can upgrade to energy-efficient appliances in the yard as well, and you can also spruce up your curb appeal by replacing old lights with solar walkway lighting that will charge during the day and last all throughout the night. After all, the exterior can significantly influence the perceived and real value of the property.

Wrapping up

While there are many home improvements you can take on to elevate the value of your property, there is nothing quite like boosting value through functionality and long-term financial savings. These solutions will help you build a more sustainable living environment, and attract the best buyers when the time comes to sell.

 

About the author:  Mike Johnston is an avid blogger and content writer with a focus in real estate, home improvement, and the construction industry.

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