You can make your house more eco-friendly and stay on budget with these 10 green home tips.

 1) Use weather stripping to seal gaps around windows and doors. This will keep out drafts in the winter and seal cool air in your home during warmer summer months.

2) Replace some of your incandescent light bulbs with energy-efficient compact fluorescent lightbulbs (CFLs). CFLs last up to 10 times longer and use up to 75% less energy than incandescent bulbs.

3) Plug all appliances such as TVs and computers into a surge-protected power bar—your technology will be protected against energy spikes and you can switch off your power bar at night to eliminate the electricity that is sucked up by plugged-in appliances, even when they’re turned off.

4) One drip of water per minute from a leaky faucet is equal to half a litre of water going down the drain every day. A bad leak could lose as much as 60 drips a minute. You can save as much as 900 litres of water every month by fixing a leaky tap.

5) If you have a high-capacity toilet, fill a four-litre plastic bottle with water and place it in the toilet tank to save more than 10,000 litres per year from being flushed down the drain.

6) Use reversible ceiling fans in the winter to distribute heat evenly and in the summer to supplement your air conditioner.

7) Clean or replace your furnace air filter every three months—a dirty filter reduces airflow and causes the furnace to run longer before it  reaches a desirable temperature in your home.

8) Save energy by installing dimmer switches for lights inside and outside your home

9) Plant a shade tree on the southeast or southwest side of your house

10) Invest in summer and winter curtains: Darker shades keep in the heat in winter while lighter ones will keep the room cooler in summer.

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