After dreaming about owning your own homestead for so long, you’ve finally bought one. It has the home you want on the farm you love, where you can work from home by spending time with your land and animals.
It’s empowering to love what you do, especially when you do it all from your own home. At the same time, it still costs money and energy to keep up with the work. After you get into the groove of your daily schedule, you may be shocked by the first round of bills that comes in the mail.
Instead of waiting for more sticker shock next month, try these easy tips to save money and energy while working from home. They may even make your routine easier while they help your efficiency and cut down your costs.
1. Replace Your Air Filters
Any home or homestead that has an HVAC unit purifies the air that’s circulated through your home by pushing it through an air filter. You may have more than a few in different vents around your homestead, depending on the size of your house.
Make sure to replace your air filters regularly, since it makes your air safer to breathe and saves you money. When air filters become clogged, your HVAC unit has to work harder and longer to properly cool or heat your home. If the filters are replaced, you’ll lower your overall energy bill by reducing how much your HVAC unit works every day.
2. Try Micro Hydro Power
Some homesteaders are lucky enough to live on a plot of land that has a river running through it. If your river has enough water and powder behind it, you may be able to try micro hydropower.
Micro hydropower is a way to get renewable energy from your land without needing a large turbine or other big pieces of equipment that would be an eyesore. The small machine is installed in your river and generates 75 to 350 kilowatt-hours per month. The installation is quick and easy, so your work from home routine doesn’t have to be interrupted.
3. Use Sleep Mode
Maybe you enjoy getting your outdoor work done in the morning because you spend the majority of your time indoors for your job. Anyone who relies on technology can save money and energy by enabling automatic sleep modes for the equipment they use the most. Set your TV or computer to go to sleep after a certain period of inactivity to save up to 10 percent of your energy bill without changing your work habits.
4. Insulate Your Home
While you’re working on your homestead every day, you may spend a lot of time going in and out of your home. Every time that door opens and closes, you lose either the air conditioning that’s cooling your home or the heat that’s trying to raise your indoor temperature.
Help your home maintain a steady temperature by adding insulation where you can. Fresh insulation in places like your attic will keep your home’s air indoors and prevent rapid spikes in temperature changes. Even if you keep swinging through your doors every day, your HVAC unit will work less to monitor the temperature of an insulated home, which saves you more money.
5. Invest in Solar Panels
Homesteaders are typically free of any conventional neighborhood rules and regulations. That opens up the possibility of investing in solar panels as a way to save money and reduce your energy usage. They’re a cost-efficient way of saving more money in the long term and they may get you entirely off the grid and stop your energy bills completely.
Think About Your Lifestyle
What does your everyday lifestyle look like? Think about your routine and where you can cut costs. Take advantage of the sleep mode on your electronics or add insulation to your home. They’re all things you can do while working from your homestead that won’t disrupt your work.
