A home’s efficiency is something that can easily be overlooked. Designing your home to work for you, not against you is an essential part of the process and here at Homes by Elite, we make efficiency an absolute priority when building.

Get it right and you will increase comfort levels, reduce bills and be able to enjoy your home year-round. Get it wrong and you will be on the losing end of the ever-increasing cost of living, constantly struggling with the need to layer up or strip off, using artificial means to keep your house a comfortable and healthy place to live.

The solution is simple. Get it right from the beginning and you will constantly be on the winning side of things, reducing your annual energy bills by up to 50%! Designing a home to be energy efficient will ensure you and your family stay warm in winter and cool in summer.

Not all homes are built to the same standards, which we discuss in our previous blog post. In this post, we want to talk about why it’s so important to do your research and find a builder you can trust, who has your best interests at heart. A builder who understands the material they work with, stays up-to-date with the latest technology, trends and techniques and finally, a builder that will steer you in the right direction from the beginning. Delivering a dream home that is not only built to the highest standard but works for you in the most efficient and cost-effective way.

Old school builders will often tell you that building efficiently means more expensive. This may be because they haven’t embraced modern building techniques or been exposed to the readily available resources, materials and processes that can make your home as efficient as possible, at an affordable price. A couple of key components to include in an energy efficient home include…

Double Glazing

This simple inclusion in your home makes a profound difference. Standard in many parts of the world already, double glazing reduces noise, helps to prevent heat or cool air loss and creates a calm and more peaceful environment overall.

This one addition can reduce the cost of heating and cooling your home by up to 40%. Think of it like a glass curtain, basically doing the same job but offering a practical and stylish solution that can be custom made to almost any shape or size.

Insulation and Air Tightness

What’s behind your walls, above your ceiling and underneath your floor is a very important thing to consider. Playing a huge role in the maintaining of temperature in your home, a well-insulated and air tight space acts as a barrier to prevent heat escaping, meaning less need for heaters or central heating. Traditional builders might tell you that insulation and air tightness could be an expensive route to go down but in the grand scheme of things, it is a small upfront cost for an unbeatable return on your investment.

Your home should be the place you feel most comfortable, relaxed and worry-free. Nobody wants to spend their evenings wrapped up in a jacket or underneath a blanket, while the heater is on full blast. Or worse, sticking to the couch in the heat of summer, while the air conditioner does its best to cool you down.

All this and more because you took the cheaper path to your dream homes completion… Ensuring your home is as comfortable and energy efficient as possible all year round should be top of your priority list, as it is ours.

When you spend so long saving, planning and preparing for your dream home, why would you even consider compromising on your long-term happiness for a short-term perceived saving?

Taking these initial steps will also help in the long run with returns on your investment. If you were looking at selling your home one day, it becomes much more attractive to potential buyers knowing that it has been fully insulated and is air tight – this is one less thing for the new owners to worry about.

With all this in mind, we can’t stress enough how important it is to do things properly from the beginning. Taking the right initial steps to set you up for the future and having a home that works for, not against you.

If you want to know more about building an energy efficient home, feel free to get in touch with our team here at Homes by Elite. You can also download our FREE guide, ‘8 ways to make your new build energy efficient’ to help with your planning today.