Why it Pays to Think about Conservation When Renovating your Home

Are you planning a home renovation project? Whether you’re simply redecorating a room, or doing a larger renovation, like building an addition to your home or installing new siding, there’s one thing that might get in the way of starting the project: the cost.

Even if you’re a handy person capable of doing some of all of the work yourself, quality materials can be more costly than you expect. There’s also the potential that you might need to buy or rent some tools and equipment. If you’re not able to do the renovation yourself, you’ll need to be prepared to pay the costs of labour and markups on any materials used.

 One Way to Defray the Costs of Your Renovation

If you start keeping one thing in mind for any renovation you’re planning, it can help defray the costs. Energy conservation is important for a number of reasons, not the least of which is the protection of the environment, but also because it can save you money.

Making energy conservation a priority for any home reno offers a number of paybacks that can help defray the cost and even pay for the entire renovation over time.

Reduced Energy Costs

This one is fairly straight forward. Anything you do to improve your home’s insulation means you’ll spend less on the energy it takes to heat and cool the house.

Longer Life for HVAC Equipment

Of course, if you’re using less energy in your home, you won’t be using your furnace and air conditioner as much. That means you won’t need to replace them as often and you’ll have fewer maintenance and repair bills in the meantime.

Higher Resale Value

The more energy saving features you have in your home, the more attractive it will be to prospective buyers when it’s time to sell it.

Energy Rebates

The City of Toronto, the Province of Ontario, other municipalities and even utilities like Enbridge Gas Distribution offer direct rebate programs for qualifying renovations that help improve the energy efficiency of your home.

Of course, out-of-pocket costs are never easy for home renovations. But when you have a better understanding of the potential payoff, it can put your project one step closer to reality.