Posts Tagged ‘kitchen remodel’
You may have noticed a new trend lately in going green, but this choice doesn’t have to put you in the poor house. It can be as simple as attaching a $2.99 attachment to your faucet. Remember, it’s easy to make more expensive mistakes if you don’t spend some time on research. Many manufacturers currently advertise their product as “earth friendly” or “green” but there are no government standards in place to define what makes an item eco-friendly or not.
Follow these 5 tips to assist you on your journey to create a kitchen that will save you money, give you a fresh new look, & save the world all at once:
1. Buy a low-flow water faucet/aerator
• Why: A shiny new faucet is a simple upgrade, but kitchen faucets can vary from 1.5 – 4 GPM in water flow. Low-flow bathroom faucets with the Environmental Protection Agency’s new WaterSense label are usually 30 percent more efficient than older models.
• Simple Eco Upgrade: Until the government comes up with some industry standard for low-flow kitchen faucets, for $3 to $11 you can make most new or existing taps more efficient simply by attaching an aerator. These simple devices save water plus lower utility bills as well, because less hot water is consumed. Because of this, low-flow aerators will typically pay you back in about 90 days.
• Cons: With lower flow, it might take a bit longer to fill that 2 gallon pot for spaghetti night.
• Suggested Purchase: Look for a gallon per minute rating of less than 2 gallons per minute or GPM (some are as high as 4 GPM). Luckily, many Kohler faucets typically offer an aerator option that can reduce the GPM rate by roughly 25 percent. Keep in mind you can also shop for adjustable aerators for your faucet. Adjust the aerator to the slow speed when using the faucet for typical use and set it to high speed to fill up big pans with water. Another green choice is a hands-free faucet, like the Danze Parma D421058, $480 or other low-flow Danze faucets.
• Keep in Mind: When you find a faucet that fits your budget and style, make sure it has a lifetime warranty that covers stains and water-wasting leaks. Also, some kitchen aerators will allow you to flip between two flow rates without affecting the water temperature
2. Switch to low wattage lighting
• Why: Modern kitchens can use up to 2,000 watts for lighting (especially track lighting) because standard incandescent, halogen, and xenon lights are energy vacuums. All that burning heat from your inefficient lights might motivate you to turn down the A/C to keep the room cool.
• Simple Eco Upgrade: Switch to cool-burning compact fluorescent lights (CFLs) in your fixtures, and also consider adding some LED or fluorescent under cabinet task lighting. This easy fix costs about $199 for 5 fluorescent fixtures.
• Cons: A handful of CFLs and LEDs cast a bluish or other odd color light. Before you buy, double check the return policy to see if you can return it even if you don’t like the way the light looks with your décor. On second thought, if you can’t try the light in the store just ask a knowledgeable associate for their personal recommendation.
• Suggested Purchase: Strips are the most common type of task lighting, round “hockey puck” lights are best for casting pools of light onto a counter and linear lights are best if you need more versatile fixtures. Both round “puck” lights and linear lights can be included with LEDs.
• Keep in Mind: If your cabinets don’t have a built-in valence to hide task lighting, either add one or choose a fixture with a sleek housing that’s not as noticeable.
3. Install a ceiling fan
• Why: Kitchens get hot, and if you use an air conditioner to cool things off, it will gobble up a lot of energy and money.
• Simple Eco Upgrade: A ceiling fan in the kitchen will use only a fraction of the electricity that an A/C would.
• Cons: Aesthetics, few people have ceiling fans in kitchens for a reason, it doesn’t usually look good.
• Suggested Purchase: There are a number of great models from Hampton Bay, Harbor Breeze, and Hunter, and most circulate air about the same. So rather than shop for a particular brand, go for a style the lady likes and you find on clearance and remember that lighting affects energy use.
• Keep in Mind: You might be able to find CFLs designed for ceiling fans that can replace the original bulbs and save energy. You need to remember current CFL’s don’t function correctly with fans that have light dimmers.
4. Refurbish with second hand materials
• Why: A new countertop or cabinet face can change the whole look of your kitchen, but producing them keeps coal power plants polluting the air and some “earth friendly” materials aren’t as green as they might seem.
• Simple Eco Upgrade: Before you buy new, see if you can find used materials.
• Suggested Purchase: Salvage shops are stocked with new or lightly used stone countertops, hardwood flooring, decorative lumber, and kitchen cabinets, so they’re a great place to look for bargains. Even better, Habitat for Humanity sells used and surplus building materials at outlets called ReStores.
• Keep in Mind: If you will buy brand new, at least search for greener cabinets and other products made from sustainable lumber and materials.
5. Trade in/Sell the biggest energy hogs
• Why: The appliances in your kitchen that take the most energy to operate are refrigerators and dishwashers. The older these appliances are, the less energy efficient they are and the more costly they are to run.
• Simple Eco Upgrade: Only open the doors when you know what you want. Don’t waste energy by “browsing” with an open fridge. If you think about it, it’s not cost effective to junk working inefficient appliances and buy brand new ones. But when you decide to update, look for models that use less energy and are quieter. Even with energy efficient models costing more dough, you’ll recover the investment as your utility bills shrink.
• Suggested Purchase: Look for appliances that are Energy Star qualified. These ENERGY STAR approved fridges need only 50% of the energy as the energy hogs manufactured before 1993. Also ENERGY STAR qualified refrigerator models use high efficiency compressors, improved insulation, and more precise temperature and defrost mechanisms to improve energy efficiency. Switching out a dishwasher manufactured before 1994 with an ENERGY STAR qualified dishwasher can save you more than $32 a year in utility costs. These also use significantly less H20 than conventional models. If not on city septic, this can also help extend the life of your septic tank.
• Keep in Mind: You don’t have to get rid of all the old appliances at once. Start with the ones that are the biggest energy hogs. When repairs of your old energgy hog appliance would cost more than 50% of a new appliance, go ahead and replace them with a new one.
If this is all seems complicated some online retailers make it easier for you such as Designer Plumbing Outlet with the help of Site Search technology by SLI Systems. This environmentally responsible company has included a search filtering option for “Eco-Friendly” when looking for any item on their website. This helps makes the search easier and makes going green even simpler when buying new.
A really large stylish kitchen is often something we all wish for but the costs involved can sometimes mean we have to make a compromise. Kitchen remodeling costs will vary depending on the type of kitchen you currently have, the type of kitchen you want, and how much you want to spend. You can still get a new kitchen with out spending all your money on new appliances, and quality cabinets.
Everyone has to follow a budget but that doesn’t mean we can’t come close to what we want. The best way to achieve your desired kitchen is to plan carefully and work out exactly what it is you want; then look at each part of the remodeling to see where costs can be reduced.
By doing the labor yourself you can save on an area that is where most of the money is spent. Your dream kitchen might not be that far away but it is important to prepare a kitchen remodeling cost budget before you start implementing it and if possible undertake tasks without outside help.
Only you will know just how proficient you are at jobs around the home, but if this is an area that you are not even slightly competent in, then the information here is not for you. At first it may seem like a good idea but if you aren’t up to the task, it will take longer and there is a much greater chance you will need to call in a professional kitchen fitter to finish the job.
Try to deal direct when it’s time for materials and appliances. If you are looking for ways to save on your kitchen remodel then you might want to consider used kitchens.
try calling some of your local kitchen companies or even putting an advert in the local paper. A great way to lower your cost is to talk to suppliers, who are happy to sell nearly new equipment which they have removed in other remodeling jobs.
People who can afford to have professionals come in and remodel their kitchen have probably looked after it so excellent bargains can be had this way. The only thing that is really stopping you having your kitchen remodeled is whether you can carry out the work yourself!
Read more here on Kitchen Remodeling.
For all those individuals who have a passion for preparing food and eating meals in the comfort of their own home, the kitchen is probably fundamental and as the kitchen in your home is utilized most frequently, it is quite possible you will get bored with the interior decoration in time. The best news is that you do not need to get huge costs when this takes place. In the United States most people often redo their kitchens and kitchen cabinets as part of house betterment but providing your kitchen a fresh look can be exceedingly costly so this is why you have to think about inexpensive options. Here are some usable tips about how to re-decorate your kitchen so that it looks swanky and brand new, even with fixed monetary resources.
There are many simple methods to make your kitchen seem unique and you do not even need to deal out a lump sum to redo it entirely. You can consider painting the walls and for a invigorating look try a shade of pale yellow that will make the kitchen look sunnier. You might also try a darker tone such as terra cotta or dark yellow, for some select areas. You likely want your windowpanes to look bright also so go for a shade of basswood which is less expensive and pick out a vivid and clear color for it. To make it seem unusual try using a brush that is partially dry and if you want the windows to look aged you could also try painting haphazardly.
Employ the dry brush to redo your unfinished cabinets as well utilizing different coats of paint to decorate your kitchen and to make it appear more impressive, buy some pin-striped adhesive tapes which are used in cars, then stick these below the molding and see the difference for yourself. For the regions below the counter use a cloth board with hook-and-loop pasting tape. You ought to also spend some money on colorful drapes to cover old items like the dishwasher or even old cabinets, which ought to be hung from beneath the framework on the top of your work counter.
At your local budget depot for the home, you are sure to locate multicolored tiles cheaply so remove old and colorless worktops and place these as an alternative. For a rough surface make certain you flatten it with ply-board prior to setting the work-top on it. Now you have to alter the look of your haggard looking old refrigerator as well so just ask a dealer in your neighborhood to get chalkboard for the front which can be fixed to it. Produce an sketch on this with pine boards and you get a tailor-made area to leave your personal notices on.
By now you must have recognized that all you need to have a smart looking kitchen is a little inventive thinking and a small bit of sweat. This is also a wallet favorable answer, and your kitchen can seem state-of-the-art and even if your kitchen is tiny with a little sun streaming in, these advised measures can make a big difference to its interior decoration. A great many kitchen and home improvement journals offer easy answers for decorating, or you can ask your friends or family for hints to customizing unfinished kitchen cabinets along with your kitchen kitchen. You are certain to recognize that re-doing your kitchen is a easy and affordable method if only you have the determination to do it.