Making sustainable choices around the house is a great way to do your bit for the planet and lower your carbon footprint. If you make big swings at it, there can also be a major impact on your financial future!
There are a lot of little things you can do around the house to help the environment. You can turn off appliances, take shorter showers, or use your dryer less frequently.
But what happens when you start to do bigger things for the environment around your home? The impacts can be far-reaching, for the earth and your long-term financial health.
Here we explore three ideas for creating a greener home and the potential impact they can have financially.
Solar panels
Solar panels are a great place to start. The return on investment of installing solar panels is 12% – 18% per annum. That’s more than the average return on property and shares.
The big deterrent is the upfront cost, which can range hugely, but is usually between $5,000 and $7,000 for a quality, modest residential system.
Battery storage
An environmental change that could be a huge money saver is using residential battery storage. This is a way of storing solar power for those cloudy days when solar power alone won’t cut it, as well as providing power when the grid goes down. If you want a way to get entirely off-the-grid, then this is an excellent way to do that.
It is designed to be used in tandem with solar power, and it is becoming cheaper to install. Specific cost depends on several factors including location and energy storage required, but it’s easy to get a quote online. While the return isn’t as strong as solar alone, it will further lower your power bill.
Rainwater tank
Another option for increasing the efficiency of your home is to invest in a rainwater tank. These are really common in rural areas, but seem to get overlooked in cities.
Again, install costs are on the higher side and can range massively based on the kind of tank.
Before you make this upgrade, check with your council whether you’re eligible for a water tank rebate, and what the conditions for that are. You could cut your water bills in half, leaving you more money to save and invest. Or you could find out too late that it is a colossal waste of time financially. So check before you go ahead with this one.
How much can you save?
Can going green really help pay off your mortgage faster? If through your environmental improvements you save a very modest $1,000 per annum on your power bill and invest it at an 8% return, that investment will be worth $50,423 in 20 years’ time. That’s a lot more appealing than paying your power company every quarter!
There are so many amazing reasons to choose a greener way of living. Helping you save big money so you can be financially healthier in the future is a pretty compelling reason too!