Besides building materials and living habits, have you ever thought that interior design can help you save on energy bills? It can be done since the start of interior design. In this article, HKDecoman will share tips to build an energy saving house.
Colour design: lightness and visual cooling, reducing heat absorption
Light-coloured home furnishing enhances coolness
White area can reflect light, and the degree of heat absorption is lower in contrast to darker area, so a white tone home is cooler than the darker one both visually and in use. It can also create a sense of spaciousness and indirectly reduce the usage of air-conditioner.
If you find white home furnishing is too ordinary and boring, you can consider using other light colours such as light grey, goose yellow, and light blue on the wall or ceiling. These light colours have lower heat absorption, and they can easily show a sense of layering than pure white.
The choice of furniture colour
Besides, it is suggested choosing the light or cool colour curtains and furniture. Curtains are homeware that are directly exposed to sunlight. Therefore, light-coloured curtains such as light-weight gauze curtains can reflect light and allow natural light to enter home.
Cool furniture with simple design can increase the sense of space in the room, and enhance the calming and natural cooling effect.
Selection of building materials: create a sense of transparency and coolness
Glass increases transparency
Increasing transparency at home is one way that interior design can help save energy. Glass has excellent lighting effect. Clear glass can be used in spaces that do not require high privacy, such as the living room. Frosted glass or corrugated glass can be used if privacy is required, such as in guest rooms and toilets.
The coldness of iron and stone
In terms of texture, metal materials not only have a cool touch, but can also enhance the visual cooling effect, such as cabinets and furniture with metal brackets.
Stone can also create a sense of transparency. The marble tiles have a cold texture, and the patterns can also reflect light, allowing natural light to enter the living room.
Space design: Adjust doors and windows to increase the convection wind. Sliding door improves air-conditioning effect.
Diagonal installation of doors and windows can enhance the effect of convective wind
If the position of the air outlet is adjusted, the natural air flow can improve the indoor temperature. The location of windows and doors will affect the airflow in the space. The image above shows the effect of different convective winds. If the door and window are set at the opposite corners, a larger convection wind can be created, which brings about a cooling effect.
Sliding doors divide areas to improve air-conditioning efficiency
In order to improve the effectiveness of air-conditioners, we can make use of sliding doors. Open design is popular nowadays. Although the design with no interval increases the sense of transparency, the air conditioner takes longer time and amount to cool down the area. Consider adding sliding doors between areas. You can open the sliding door to create a sense of space. When the air conditioner is used, close the sliding door to increase the cooling efficiency of the air conditioner and achieve energy saving effect.
Set the working area by the window
When designing the home area, arrange the area that needs light by the window, such as the reading position of the living room, study desk, etc., so that you can make full use of natural light to reduce the use of energy.
Furniture configuration: Proper local lighting helps energy saving. Flexible deployment of furniture to meet the needs of the four seasons
Choose cool colours and local lighting
Many people like to use warm lights at home to create a sense of warmth. However, in summer, as daytime is longer, setting warm lights in the entire house will make the room stuffy.
You can consider setting different types of lights in different areas. Use low-wattage cold-light to replace warm-light in places where you need to focus. In places that need warmth and relaxation, such as the bedroom and living room, you can use a wall lamp, floor lamp or table lamp with local lighting. Indirect lighting has a soft and relaxing effect with lower electricity usage.
Iron and rattan furniture
In terms of choosing chairs and tables, fabric furniture makes us feel muggy in summer. Consider replacing iron furniture with simple industrial design. You can refer to the furniture in tropical regions. For example, a tropical rattan chair can absorb part of the indoor heat and help cool down. In winter, you can put blankets or cloth cushions on the furniture to add a touch of warmth. Change the furnishings at home to meet the temperature changes of the four seasons.
Green home
When it comes to energy-saving and environmentally friendly homes, green plants are the indispensable elements. Green plants can adjust the air temperature, purify the air and calm the mood. If you don’t want to spend too much time on taking care of the plants, choose the plants that don’t need to be watered frequently, such as succulents or vines.
(Image source: Decomyplace, Best Picko.com, vintage industrial style, dhoumm)
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