If you’re interested in building an eco-friendly home, you may have heard of the phrase “Net-Zero Home.” But what does it entail, exactly, and are the benefits worth it?

Net-zero homes are a relatively rare phenomenon, but they’re growing in popularity, with more and more being built every year. And they’re growing more popular for a good reason – these houses use cutting-edge technology and excellent engineering to produce an efficient, eco-friendly model while remaining just as comfortable as a typical house. 

What Is a Net Zero Home? 

A net zero home is a house that produces as much energy as it uses, and thus has a “net zero” energy usage. Not only does this leave you with a greatly reduced energy bill as compared to a traditional home, it also leaves you with a significantly smaller carbon footprint. 

Net-zero houses aren’t just regular houses with solar panels slapped on top; they’re designed and constructed in a smart, modern way to ensure that their energy usage is as low as possible and their energy output is as high as possible. This is done partly with highly effective sealing and insulation, as well as by producing its own energy in alternative, eco-friendly ways.

How Do You Get a Net-Zero Home?

Since net-zero homes are relatively new, as are the technology that makes them possible, there are few of them already available on the market. Thus, the best way to get a net-zero home is to hire contractors to build your own custom net-zero house. Not only will you have a modern, eco-friendly home, it will be the perfect tailor-made home just for you and your family, right where you want it. What could be better?

What Does It Mean to Be “Net Zero”?

“Net zero,” in regards to net-zero homes and net-zero energy, means that a building does not use more energy than it produces. With the use of technology such as photovoltaics , the home produces enough energy to cover the energy used by appliances and HVAC equipment in the home. Since the home uses renewable forms of energy, you’re not only aided by lower energy bills, but you also get the satisfaction of knowing that your decision to build a custom net-zero home is helping the environment and keeping greenhouse gases down.

What Are 3 Things that Use the Most Energy in Your Home?

Many appliances in your home use up energy, but which are the biggest users? The top three biggest energy users in your home, listed in order, are:

• HVAC systems: Especially in Arizona, where the A/C runs for several months out of the year, heating and cooling systems use up a lot of power — 47% of a home’s total energy usage. 
• Water heater: The next biggest energy user, the water heater, consumes about 14% of your home’s energy usage. 
• Washer and dryer: Coming in just below your water heater is your clothes washer and dryer, which uses 13% of your home’s total energy usage. 

After the top 3, the next biggest energy users are lighting and personal electronics, such as televisions and computers.

A net-zero house uses alternative sources of energy, such as solar panels and geothermal, to power these systems and appliances. In addition, the sealing around windows and doors and the insulation of the house mean that there’s far less wastage of power, which makes everything run more efficiently. 

Ready To Talk About Building Your Net-Zero Custom Home?

As you can see, net-zero houses are not only a worthy investment, they’re quite possibly the house of the future. Get ahead of the curve and call now at (928)-776-0301 to learn more about building your own custom, net-zero, eco-friendly home.