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A windbreak can chop your energy usage by reducing blustery breezes on your home so that it's easier, and cheaper, to keep your house warm. Go bold with bright fencing that redirects the chill all winter long, or try some clever landscaping that also does extra duty as climate control during the summer.
If you've ever heard a weather report, you've heard about "the wind chill factor," which boils down to the idea that when it's chilly out, having a freezing cold wind blowing in your face makes it feel even colder. What they don't tell you on the nightly news, though, is that the same thing happens to your house when you're trying to heat it on a snowy evening. Putting up a windbreak that shelters your dwelling from the onslaught will help your house stay warm with minimal dependence on your climate control system.
Windbreaks aren't just for winter winds, though. In some regions, you may benefit from a windbreak during the summer, when hot, low-lying breezes can actually pummel your home with heat, increasing the burden on your air conditioner. Plus, if you opt for planting some trees as part of your wind control system, you can affect your yard's microclimate, keeping things a little cooler thanks to shade, evaporation, and the other nifty tricks of natural heat mitigation. So, that spells energy savings all year round.
An attractive fence or wall, or a totally eco-chic earth berm, can liven up your property with a break that's also a bold design statement, or you can just plant a well-placed grove of trees or cluster of bushes. Planting a living windbreak against the backdrop of something a bit more manmade combines the best of both worlds, offering instant results along with a great long-term strategy. Right away, the solid structure of your wall will stop big breezes, then as the years go by, your shrubbery, (or trees, or bushes, or what have you), will grow and get bigger and block more wind. Your break will get better and better as it ages, effortlessly cutting your carbon footprint for many decades to come.
Have champagne taste but organic beer money? Live vicariously and check out the most luxurious eco-digs on Planet Green TV's World's Greenest Homes.
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