Conserving energy and saving the environment is a common goal that companies and consumers try to achieve these days. Companies are manufacturing green and eco-friendly appliances while the consumers accomplish this with a more straightforward approach to planting more trees.
Trees not only offset the carbon footprint but also help in keeping the energy bill in check. All you need to do is understand which type of trees should be planted for this purpose, when, and where.
Trees can significantly reduce the need for air conditioners during summers; by providing shade to the house, they keep the house cooler, reducing electricity consumption.
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Gigantic Deciduous Shade Trees
Deciduous are dense trees laden with lush green leaves during summers. The thick shade of the tree blocks the sun rays from penetrating through it, protecting the house from absorbing heat. Winter shedding is equally essential as sunlight is needed to keep the house warm during the cold season.
Strategic Placement
Placement of the tree is critical to deriving maximum benefits. Place it to block the windows, i.e., west, northwest, and south sides of the house. If the branches block your view, you may prune the lowest of them.
Additionally, planting more trees on the sideways, patios, and driveways will keep not just your own house but the entire street cooler. Consequently, there’ll be less need for running air conditioners. If there’s a shade over your unit, that’ll be all the better as it’ll improve the efficiency of the A.C., and the machine will provide more cooling when needed. Trees can save up to 30% of the energy bills planted strategically.
Winters impact energy conservation adversely, raising the electricity bills dramatically, as the need for heaters to keep your home warm increases. As learned earlier in this article, the deciduous trees start to shed their leaves in the autumn, allowing space for more sunlight to enter your house, keeping it warmer than before.
This will result in a 50% reduction in your energy bills in winters. The only thing you should bear in mind is avoiding planting a tree on the east or west side of the house, as that will block sunlight.
This is a super simple and natural solution to conserving energy and saving some substantial money. Additionally, trees are also good air-purifiers raising the air quality of your area. This will also help in boosting the value of your property.
How Do Trees Grow To Protect Energy?
The placement of trees is significant to get all the benefits. The sequence of plantations maximizes their usefulness. You need to place trees at least 15-20 feet from the house to receive the proper dense shade. Small trees can be grown nearer than 15 feet, but big trees require more space to grow. Hence plant them 20 feet or more from your house.
Windbreaks will reduce wind speed to the extent of as much as 30 times their length. You should plant the windbreak a distance from your house of two to five times the height of fully grown-up trees for utmost protection.
Proper Landscaping For Energy Efficiency
Strategically located trees reduce energy use for cooling and heating by max to 25%. In summer, a home’s cooling cost can be curtailed from 15-50 percent, utilizing a well-planned landscape, based on research by the Lawrence Berkeley National laboratory of DOE. Houses with windbreak placed on the windward angle decreased heating energy use by 25%, related to unarmed homes, based on a study of South Dakota. Trees serve an environmental advantage; for every acre of trees, up to 2.6 tons of carbon dioxide is eliminated each year.
What Types Of Trees To Plant?
Choose trees that are native to your area and are hardy for the climatic conditions that region has. For instance, North Carolina lies in the temperate region of the U.S.; you should consider planting shade trees. You should also choose between deciduous or evergreen trees. As discussed earlier in this article, deciduous trees give full shade and protection against the sun in summers. However, loose leaves in winter allow full sunlight; whereas, evergreen trees like the Coniferous, Blue Spruce, Jack Pine, White Fir, Southern Live Oak, Mountain Hemlock, etc., remain lush green all year.
Given underneath is a list of shade trees that you may consider:
- Crepe Myrtle
- American Hornbeam
- Flowering Dogwood
- Chinese Elm
- Japanese Zelkova
- Red Maple
- Ginkgo
- Sugar Maple
- White Oak
- Littleleaf Linden
Conclusion
Planting shade trees and evergreen trees in a strategic position and proper landscaping is beneficial in reducing the house’s energy consumption and energy bill. These trees are also helpful in purifying the air quality in and around your locality and offset the carbon footprint.
