What if you had only $100 to invest in a cheaper, cleaner home? Or $10? Or even just $1?
The conversation about cutting your emissions is often about replacing big-ticket items like stoves, furnaces and cars. But millions of people are neither ready nor able to spend thousands of dollars. What if you didn’t need to?
I asked energy experts, efficiency engineers and readers about how to get the biggest climate bang for your buck, whether you rent or own your home. I wanted investments that turned a few dollars into a fistful of them, while cutting emissions within a few months or sooner.
I was not disappointed. There’s money just lying around your house squirreled away in floor joists, behind air ducts and even under the bedspread. You just need to know where to look. I’ve catalogued the best ideas to invest in the climate — and your comfort — by price, from $100 down to zero. And I’m sure there are many more. Send me your best at climatecoach@washpost.com.
Here are 10 improvements you can make for under $100:
Cost: Starts around $80 per window.
Why it works: Millions of homes still have inefficient, single-pane windows. Replacing them with double-paned windows is cost-effective — but pricey, as much as $1,000 each to buy and install. Storm windows let you achieve similar results at one-third the cost.
Storm windows are aluminum frames with high-efficiency coated glass that permanently fit over your existing windows, either inside or outside, and blend in with your home’s existing architecture. They can be fixed or slide over your window so you can open and close them. They can save you 10 to 30 percent in heating and cooling costs, says Christian Kaltreider, a researcher at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), one of the Energy Department’s research centers. This can deliver $100 to $300 in annual savings.
Cost: Starts around $70.
Why it works: Stuck cutting grass behind a belching engine? First, plant a tidy wildland — a mostly natural yard with only a small area of grass you have to mow. Next, try a push reel mower. Lauren, a Climate Coach reader, bought hers for $70 in 2017, and hasn’t spent a dime since.
“Every time I use it I think to myself, ‘If only more people knew how great these things are!’” she wrote. “It is great exercise and takes care of the lawn without using any fuel. My kids and all of the neighborhood kids LOVE using it. … It does the job!”
I was hard-pressed to find one on Google Shopping that didn’t have four- or five-star reviews.
Cost: $60 to $150.
Why it works: The simple devices are usually made of nylon, insulation and Velcro, and fit over the attic opening. They cover the drafty space created by a poorly sealed ceiling access to your attic, usually with stairs.
Every time your heating or cooling system turns on, you’re pushing pressurized air out of your home. If there’s a gap where your stairs enter the attic, air will rush out there. A simple insulation cover cuts heat loss dramatically by stopping leaks, while keeping out insulation and dust particles that might drift down.
Cost: $30 to more than $200.
Why it works: Fireplaces and old furnaces vent outdoors. If your chimney or flue isn’t sealed off when not in use, says Kaltreider, it’s a clean shot for all your warm air to leave your home. A simple and inexpensive fix is rigging up your own seal by inserting a well-fitted piece of insulating material or buying one of the many options of chimney seals or dampers available online. These can range from cast iron plates or doors that sit inside your chimney to top-sealing ones that cap the top. There are also draft stoppers made out of flexible material.
You won’t be able to burn anything in your fireplace while the damper is in, but it will prevent air from leaving your flue and eliminate drafts to keep things warm.
Cost: Starts around $30.
Why it works: Your house is filled with vampires, devices that suck power even when they’re not turned on. The average home has about 40 of them, from plasma TVs to printers. They consume 5 to 10 percent of the nation’s energy, according to Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and generate 1 percent of global carbon emissions.
How do you know what’s sucking power? Lawrence Berkeley has a chart of all the appliances’ standby electricity consumption from about seven watts for a TV set-top box to four watts for a stereo. You can also measure it yourself using a plug-in power consumption meter or WiFi smart plugs. While not much on their own, these loads can be like adding an extra week or month to your utility bill.
Smart strips or plug-load controllers can help fix that. These power strips — essentially regular power strips with timers or digital controls — ensure power is cut when the device isn’t in use overnight or during other periods. The devices can save you as much as $2,000 over a decade. That’s a much better return than investing in the S&P 500.
Cost: Start around $35.
Why it works: A $500 “micro-heat pump” — an ultraefficient free-standing or window unit — can keep you warm while saving money by heating or cooling one room rather than the entire home. But if you want something cheaper to stay warm after turning down the central thermostat at night, try heated blankets and mattress pads. You won’t know they’re there, and you’ll sleep toasty through the winter. Since these draw 50 to 200 watts, similar to an old incandescent lightbulb, the cost to run them will be less than $20 a year at average U.S. electricity prices.
Cost: Starts at $1.
Why it works: The latest-generation LED bulbs are 90 percent more efficient than incandescent bulbs, and they’re cheaper and more reliable than earlier versions. You’ll have plenty of hues to pick from including amber and daylight. Ikea’s Solhetta Warm White goes for $2 for two.
“If you’re not sure if a fixture can be replaced [with an LED],” says Edward Louie, an energy-efficiency engineer at PNNL, “the answer is yes. For pretty much every single fixture, there’s a way to do it.”
Cost: A few bucks to several hundred dollars.
Why it works: If you’re heating or cooling your house, drafts are your enemy. Heating and cooling typically consume 30 percent of your utility bill. “If you only have $100 to apply for home improvement, that might be the place,” says Louie. Luckily, it’s cheaper if you’re willing to put in a little elbow grease.
Cost: Free.
Why it works: Your dryer vent blows hot air outdoors. The duct’s backflow preventer can get stuck in the open position allowing cold air back into the house. If so, flip it back. If broken, a new one runs at just a few dollars.
Cost: Free.
Why it works: It took me three years to realize I was incinerating hundreds of dollars by not turning down my water heater to 120 degrees, as the Energy Department recommends. It not only lowers the risk of scalding — 140-degree water leads to serious burns within three seconds — it also can save more than $400 annually. While hotter temperatures were once advised to reduce the risk of legionella bacteria, which can lead to pneumonia, the risk is considered “very slight.”
If you have a suppressed immune system or chronic respiratory disease, the Energy Department says you may consider higher temperatures. But water temperatures of 120 degrees are “considered safe for the majority of the population,” according to the agency.
“It’s the best home improvement I made this year,” Geoff Fowler, The Washington Post’s technology columnist told me. Turn the knob on your water heater’s thermostat setting to 120 degrees or the “hot” setting on some older models.