Planet Green has a list of the 10 best ways to start the new year off right by resolving to be more energy efficient.

• Resolution One: Heating
  The number one source of energy consumption in the wintertime is heating. Your first resolution should be to replace your inefficient heating system. If your furnace is over twenty years old, you should think about investing in a new one. Find a contractor who has experience with energy-efficient heating systems.

• Resolution Two: Improve Furnace Efficiency
  You may have a top-of-the-line furnace, but it can always stand to be tweaked for further efficiency. The easiest way to do this is to keep your filters clean, close off rooms you do not use and keep baseboards and registers clear. Make sure that drapes don’t hang in front of vents. Also, you might want to invest in sealing your ducts if not already sealed. This can reduce heat loss by twenty percent.

• Resolution Three: Improve Your Insulation
  When you hire that contractor, have him recommend the insulation that is best for your climate. Insulating spray foam and cellulose insulation are great ways to insulate the attic of your home without undergoing a complete renovation.

• Resolution Four: Improve Your Windows
  Your windows are also a source of wintertime heat loss. The best but most expensive thing to do would be to replace them with double or triple pane windows. Make sure the cracks between window and house are sealed tightly. Hanging blackout curtains is a cheap way to keep warm. These curtains can reduce heat loss by 25%. A loose window pane can be fixed with little muss.

• Resolution Five: Improve Your Doors
  Any place a hole is punched in the thermal envelope of your house is a great place to look to for improvements. You can replace your old garage door with an insulated version. Garages are tremendous energy sucks, rarely built with efficiency in mind. Put weather stripping around your doors and windows to keep the cold air from coming in the crack.

• Resolution Six: Improve Your Thermal Envelope
  Warm air can escape through even the tiniest of holes. The electrical outlet is no exception. Foam insulating gaskets can easily stop this problem. An old fireplace may still have a cast iron flue damper. These flue dampers aren’t known for being energy efficient. It might be time to upgrade to a modern damper. They can reduce heat loss by 90% when compared to the old-school cast iron models. Glass doors on the fireplace can also save energy.

• Resolution Seven: Improve Your Water Heater
  Now that you’re all cozy and warm, you’ll want to make sure that you have plenty of hot showers for those cold winter days. Water heaters can last about 15 years max. Replace your model with an Energy Star model. Also, you can put an insulating jacket around the tank. This has the potential to eliminate heat loss by 40%. Your water should be set at 120 degrees and make sure to insulate your hot water pipes as well as the length of pipe that leads into the heater.

• Resolution Eight: Install A Programmable Thermostat
  A programmable thermostat can save fifteen percent on your heating bills. On top of the monetary savings, it is good for the environment. While you are at work during the day, your heater will turn completely off or go down to the lowest setting to, you know, keep your goldfish and other fragile things warm.

• Resolution Nine: Invest in a Pellet Stove
  Tired of not having a fireplace? Why not get something better? Burn your bio-trash to stay warm. Spend the day roasting chestnuts on an open fire at Grandma’s house. Spend the evening roasting chestnut shells for warmth in your pellet stove. Pellet stoves are a bit pricey, but they are cleaner than log-burning stoves, pump out the grip of warmth and put bio-waste to good use.

• Resolution Ten: Go Solar
  The best way to power your furnace and your water heater is with solar power. Solar power packages are expensive, but you don’t have to buy them all at once. You can start with a converter and work your way off the grid. Each time you install a solar panel, you will eventually save money on it. Being that it is wintertime, the best solar investment may be evacuated tubes. These tubes are marvelous solar collectors that work even in cold and overcast climates.

10 Eco-friendly Home Improvement Ideas

• 1. Tons of water is wasted each year in the bathrooms of homeowners, so take a look in there when you’re doing your green remodeling. For the toilet consider a dual flush model. These are designs that use two different flush settings depending upon what you need (usually a powerful mode that offers 1.6 gallons and then a nice and gentle .8-gallon flush as well). This can greatly help reduce water consumption in the home over the course of a single year.

• 2. Paint goes a long ways in adding curb appeal to the outside of a house or cheering up drab spaces inside. It’s also an easy and relatively inexpensive home improvement that will make a huge difference. When you are selecting paint, stick to only brands that use non-VOC or non-volatile organic chemicals. Typical paint has high levels of VOCs, which is neither eco-friendly nor particularly healthy. You may need to search for brands and special lines that offer low and reduced VOC levels, but they are becoming more readily available. Just ask at the paint department of the home improvement store, and someone should be educated enough to help you find an eco-friendly paint that will suit your needs. Read about the hazards of certain types of paint and some safer alternatives here.

• 3. Flooring is one of the first things people think of when they make plans to remodel, and there are lots of ways to get what you want and still be eco-friendly. For those who are looking for a natural type of material then cork flooring is a great option to explore. It is durable, comfortable to walk on, and also boasts the use of no toxic adhesives that can harm the environment. There are a wide range of colors and designs for cork floor tiles, showing that the material is not meant just for walls and bulletin boards anymore.

• 4. Your floors may not really need to be replaced at all. Reusing and refinishing already existing materials is a hallmark of the green remodeling movement, so another viable home improvement option that you can look into is refinishing the floors that you currently have. This is especially plausible if you have wood floors underneath any other type of floor in your home. While it may take some work to make them shine again, it is worth the effort.

• 5. Carpets can be eco-friendly too. Sometimes it’s hard to beat the warmth and softness of carpets, but if you want to be green and healthy (carpeting is well known for harboring dust mites, pet dander, and mildew, all of which are hard to get out even with steam cleaning), consider carpet tiles. These are typically created from recyclable materials and are very easy to install as well as clean. This makes them a beautiful choice as well as a simple option for carpet across an entire room. You can even get outdoor carpet tiles to spruce up balconies or rooftop decks.

• 6. If you’re going with carpets, know that carpet padding isn’t always necessary. Skip the carpet padding if possible. This is usually additional material that is used when using traditional carpet and involves additional labor, materials, and chemicals and also makes it much harder to keep the carpet clean without the use of harsh chemicals.

• 7. In the bedroom look for organic bedding. Many off-the-shelf bedding products are treated with a chemical called formaldehyde, which is intended to make them soft, but this is a huge toxic chemical and very hazardous to the environment as well as your own personal health. Look for organic bedding to avoid the dangers to your health.

• 8. As for the bed itself, consider eco-friendly mattresses. There are several companies that have them available; most are typically made from a material called natural latex rubber, which is friendly to the environment. Also these mattresses pose fewer problems when it’s time to replace them.

• 9. Think solar power whenever possible. This can save you a lot of money in the long run. For example, if you are replacing your water heater, consider a solar powered model. This will reduce energy usage, lower your power bill, and ensure that you always have plenty of hot water on hand, even if the power is out in the rest of the house.

• 10. If you’re not ready to take the big remodeling step, you can make green choices just in your home furnishings. One of the best things you can do is purchase used furniture. This helps to keep old furniture out of the landfills, and it reduces the demand on forests and materials to build new pieces from scratch. Also, older pieces tend to be higher quality than what’s put out today (i.e. solid hardwood instead of particleboard), so you may actually get a better piece of furniture just by sanding and staining an old coffee table or perhaps reupholstering old chairs and sofas. Getting used furniture is a great way to save some money and be eco friendly all at the same time.