« Tips to Help You Create the Most Alluring Landscape | Home | Sprinkler Systems - Keep Your Garden Green! »

Energy Efficient Landscaping in Your Backyard

By Therese | September 29, 2008

All of us like to save money.  With easy energy efficient landscaping you can save up to 30% or more on your energy bills.  Just a few simple adjustments to your existing landscape or by careful planning of your new landscape you can create an energy saving home.

Of course we would all like to save on our energy costs but how can we do this?  There are several innovative ideas to look into when relandscaping your yard.

Making Use of or Protection from the Sun’s Rays

Where and how you can include energy efficient landscaping would greatly depend on the part of the country in which you live.  Your home may be hit on three sides by the sun each day making the cooling system work extra hard during the hotest part of the season.  Others may have a home that is situated on their property so that it faces morth-east with lots of shady trees on the south-west side making it very cold in the cooler months.

Usually, the best way to keep the sun out is to design shade landscaping. Plant deciduous, dense, and broad trees to the south or west of the house, where their foliage can provide shade against the rays of the hot summer sun. Keeping the sun out can reduce temperatures to up to 10 degrees Fahrenheit.

You will also want the warm rays of the sun to heat the hardscape surrounding your home this will also increase the heat levels inside the home.

Adding Protection from the Wind

One of the primary contributors to lowering home temperatures is the wind that blows through the house. Especially in the winter, this wind is particularly sinister as the wind chill is much colder than the normal atmospheric temperature in the area.

Plants that serve as effective windbreaks include evergreens or trees in general. In fact, even fences placed in strategic locations can serve as windbreaks.

Keep the Heat or Cool In

One way you can help save energy by making sure the warm or cool air does not escape from your home by adding insulation in the ceilings, gaskets around the doors, vents and windows, and having double pain windows.

The best way to achieve this is by planting shrubbery around the home’s foundations. This creates a dead air barrier, keeping the heat and cool inside the home where it matters. Experts have suggested widening the distance between the shrubbery and the house’s walls in order to increase this area for dead air.

The end result of your planning should be not only a beautifully landscaped yard, but one that is also energy efficient.  Energy effiecient landscaping will save you money and one you can enjoy for years to come.

Find more information on landscaping go to Low Voltage Landscape Lights

Topics: Uncategorized |

Comments


Fatal error: Call to undefined function display_cryptographp() in /home/tersey/public_html/MyBlog/wp-content/themes/clean-copy-right-sidebar/comments.php on line 102