Making Your Park Home More Environmentally-Friendly

Being kinder to the planet and helping the environment are goals that many of us share, this guide is designed to help you make your park home more environmentally friendly and possibly to save you some money in the process. If you have a park home, or are thinking of getting one, then the measures outlined here can help the environment and often save you money in lower running costs, especially in the long run.

The good news is that if you are buying a brand-new park home, building standards upgraded since 2015 will ensure that you start at an improved level of environmental friendliness. The new specifications for park homes include, for instance, renewable and alternative energy sources, better energy efficiency, insulation and the like. That said, many of the tips here will still help you improve even further and will certainly help with older homes.

Energy efficiency of your park home

Energy efficiency is an important goal in reducing the ‘footprint’ of your park home. The benefits in terms of reduced running costs make this a ‘win-win’ area to improve on.

Install energy-efficient lighting and appliances, all appliances are energy rated so you are able to choose those that are most energy efficient. For example an A-rated appliance is more eco-friendly than an E-rated appliance.

This simple change helps to save money on electricity usage and is better for the environment. A-rated lights, for instance, tend to last 25 times longer, meaning you won’t have to replace them as often.

Turn off your electrical items when you aren’t using them. This may sound like the easiest tip, but even when your computer is off but still plugged in and the plug switch is on, it requires power to be in ‘standby mode’. It may be a small change but it will save you money and definitely help the environment in the long run.

Small measures can have a large impact. Simply filling your kettle with just the amount of water you need will greatly reduce the energy it uses to come to the boil and save you water to boot. 

Insulation in your park home

Many older park homes could benefit greatly from improved insulation, particularly in the roof space and for the doors and windows. Upgrading the insulation in your park home will not only save you money on running costs but can greatly enhance your comfort by keeping your park home warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer.

Consider replacing old insulation materials with newer, more efficient ones and installing triple-glazed, argon filled, doors and windows. A modest outlay now can extend the life of your home and save on energy consumption. It’s another way to make your park home more environmentally-friendly.

Reducing water usage in your park home

The easiest way to reduce your water usage is to think about how long you spend in the shower or leave taps running and try to minimise both. Try to make showers less than five minutes and baths a lot less frequent (and perhaps luxuriate in them longer to get the maximum benefit!). Never leave the tap running while you brush your teeth. Small changes made daily by a lot of people have a significant accumulated impact. Your small contribution does matter.

Familiarise yourself with the eco settings and low water usage settings on your dishwasher and washing machine. Most recent models will have these options.

If you have a hot tub try to minimise its usage per day and the time spent in it in each sitting. This is also a good idea in any case to avoid contamination with harmful bacteria such as legionella.

The best way to really transform your water usage is to think about installing a rain capture system for your park home. These can be simply installed to collect rain water and make it available for toilet flushing, cleaning and watering your garden. 

Recycling and plastic reduction in your park home

Try to avoid disposable items and reuse as much as you can. Plastic cutlery, bottles and bags and paper towels are the obvious candidates to find alternatives for. Taking your own reusable bag shopping is a simple step in the right direction.

Use some of your captured rain water to rinse containers clean of food waste so they can be recycled.

If you are a new buyer, ask the managers of residential parks you are looking at about their recycling policies. If more and more park home managers and owners become aware of their customers’ desire to help the planet then they are more likely to implement park-wide schemes for recycling and environmentally-friendly waste disposal.

If you are an existing park home owner, try to engage with your park’s management on these issues. There are schemes and companies like Veolia, for instance that will help the management to direct as much general waste as possible from their parks away from landfill sites.

Think local

These days many park homes will have green and environmentally-friendly services and businesses nearby. Try to prioritise these and look for local refill services (for detergents and other products) and packaging-free companies.

There are lots of ways to make your park home more environmentally-friendly and we hope that you have found this article helpful. Some simple steps can help the planet and save you money in the long run too.

This is a marketing article from Park Home Assist, multi award-winning providers of residential park home insurance.  If you would like to speak to an advisor regarding insurance for your park home, please contact our friendly team in our Northampton office on 01604 946 796.

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Published – 08/07/21