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Want to save $100 to $250 a year in energy costs?

Well, it’s easy to do. Simply plant three trees. Placed in the Right spot, these trees can provide sufficient shade to reduce your utility bill.

Actually, carefully positioned trees can save you up to 25 percent of a household’s energy consumption for heating and cooling. The experts say that, on average, a well designed landscape can save you enough in energy costs to pay back your initial investment in less than eight years. For example, an 8-foot deciduous tree costs about as much as a large window awning for shade in the summer yet still admits some winter sunshine into your home.

Summer Solar Home Benefits

You may have noticed the coolness of parks and wooded areas compared to the temperature of nearby city streets. Because cool air settles near the ground, air temperatures directly under trees can be as much as 25 degrees cooler than air temperatures above nearby blacktop. The process is called ‘evapotranspiration’. One study found summer daytime air temperatures to be 3 to 6 degrees cooler in tree-shaded neighborhoods than in treeless areas.

In fact, a well-planned landscape can reduce an un-shaded homes summer air-conditioning costs by 15 to 50%. So smart solar landscaping can pay off in summer utility savings.

Winter Solar Home Benefits

Ever heard of wind chill? If the outside temperature is 10 degrees and the wind speed is 20 miles per hour, the wind chill is -24 degrees meaning that the temperature actually feels as cold as -24. That’s a fact. Another useful fact is that trees, fences, or geographical features can be used as windbreaks to shield your house from the wind.

One Midwest study found that windbreaks to the north, west and east of houses cut fuel consumption by an average of 40 percent. Houses with windbreaks placed only on the windward side averaged 25 percent less fuel consumption than similar but unprotected homes. If you live in a windy climate, your well-planned solar landscape can reduce your winter heating bills by approximately one third. That’s Good News!

Trees Clean The Air, Too

In addition to the obvious benefits of improving the appearance of your home and the less obvious solar benefits, planting lots of trees and other plants around your home offers numerous environmental benefits. Trees and vegetation control erosion, protect water supplies, provide food and shelter for wildlife, and clean the air by absorbing carbon dioxide and releasing oxygen.