12 Best Healthy Home Upgrades For 2024

The industrial and technological transformation of the world over the past two centuries has changed nearly every aspect of civil and domestic life. As we all know, technological innovations have both benefits and negatives. All of the synthetic elements around us bring potential dangers along with the ease they introduce, so a modern homeowner needs to balance considerations of utility with those of health and safety. In this article, we will consider twelve of the best healthy home upgrades you can incorporate into your living space in 2024.

Smart Thermostats

If you want to improve your home’s value, and save money in the process, you may consider upgrading to a smart thermostat. Unlike their traditional counterparts, which have to be manually adjusted, smart thermostats connect to your home’s wifi, and can be adjusted from your phone or computer, wherever you happen to be. Forget to turn down the heat before leaving on vacation? No problem, if you have one of these installed. You can also set schedules for your heating and cooling in advance, so that your home will run on consistent cycles. A smart thermostat can save a homeowner between 10% and 20% on their cooling and heating costs every year, along with giving you peace of mind and remote control over your home’s climate.

Air Purifiers

Air quality is one of the most important–and most frequently overlooked–aspect of home health and potential home improvement. Air purifiers are especially important if you live in a pollution-heavy city, or an area with bad air quality. If anyone in your home suffers from asthma or allergies, the need for high quality air is even greater. We tent to think of “outdoors” and “indoors” as two separate domains, but the air inside our homes comes from the outside air, so problems in one mean problems in the other. HEPA grade air filters can remove over 99% of airborne pollutants and contaminants, with many such filters boasting a filtration capacity down to 10 micron (a human hair is 70 microns in width, for comparison).

Water Filtration Systems

Along with air, water is the most important element in our lives, so addressing problems in the water we drink, cook with, and bathe in is one of the most important home upgrades we can invest in. Water filtration systems come in many shapes and sizes, and utilize a variety of different technologies to reduce waterborne contaminants.

It is helpful to classify filters according to type and function before tackling the creation of your ideal filtration system. The first type of filter that any home can benefit from are sediment filters. Typically made of polypropylene or polyester, there is a huge range of sediment filters on the market, from pool and spa applications, to undersink and whole-home versions. Sediment filters remove physical particulate matter, such as dirt, dust, organic matter, clay, and rust.

Activated carbon filters are another very important type of filter, and one that you can expect to see in nearly any multi-stage filtration system. Carbon has been used for thousands of years to improve the taste and odor of water, and to remove chemical impurities from water. Carbon filters are the best out there for improving water’s aesthetic qualities, and making it taste great.

Finally, there are advanced filtration options such as reverse osmosis, deionization, or descaling filters, all designed to tackle more aggressive contaminants, or to target specific types of contaminants. To get the system best suited for you and your water needs, get your water professionally tested, and work with a local plumber or water dealer to consider your options.

LED Lighting

An excellent upgrade for long-term savings, switching from traditional light bulbs to LED lighting will upgrade the reliability and longevity of your home’s lighting, as well as cutting down on energy consumption. LED lights are also more ecologically friendly and more customizable in design and implementation. These powerful little bulbs do better in extreme temperatures than traditional bulbs, and are far more durable and less prone to breaking than traditional incandescent bulbs.

Energy-Efficient Windows

Heating and cooling a home isn’t cheap, and it becomes a lot more expensive if you are leaching hot or cold air through your windows to the outdoors. Older windows can be especially bad in this regard, and you may be spending a lot more than you need to each year because of air flowing through the tired glass or around the poorly-sealed edges. Energy-efficient windows are double-paned or even triple-paned, and have inert gasses–such as argon–between the glass layers. This helps to keep the ambient temperature in, and keep ultraviolet light out.

Solar Panels

One of the most expensive items on this list, solar panels can also be one of the biggest home upgrades you can invest in as of 2024. There is a big investment up front, and it will take a few years to earn back the startup costs, but after that, you will wonder why you ever put up with those pesky energy bills. With a good system, you can produce so much power from the roof of your house that you are actually putting excess electricity into the grid, which can result in credit from your local power company, depending on your area. Don’t be intimidated by the size of the job–solar panels are getting easier to install and more of a commonplace with each passing year. It’s a daunting task, but one that will more than pay off in the long run.

Low-Voc Paints

VOCs, or “volatile organic compounds” are all around us. To say that a substance is “volatile” means that it has high vapor pressure, and a tendency to off-gas quickly into the surrounding air. Think of things like rubbing alcohol, that go from liquid to gas before your eyes–that is an example of a volatile substance. Many VOCs are perfectly harmless, and occur in nature, but there are a lot of synthetic VOCs that show up in all sorts of commercial products, such as paints, solvents, and glues. Such substances will off-gas into the air, so try to find paints and interior products that don’t contain harmful VOCs, so as to minimize any potential exposure to harmful chemicals.

Programmable Sprinklers

In many parts of the world, water scarcity is a real problem. In such locations, lawns and outdoor plants often suffer, because what water there is needs to be allocated for human use. Using programmable sprinklers can help to cut down on excessive watering, by metering the water for your lawn and garden so that you are only using the bare minimum.

Insulated Garage Doors

Just like windows, the garage door is a place where a lot of heat can easily escape. Garages are typically not heated to the same extent as the main home, but you can still lose a lot of ambient warmth through that large (and usually fairly thin) moving door. An insulated door will keep in the heat, helping to cut down on wasted energy, and increased heat bills during the cold months.

Rainwater Harvesting Systems

If you have a robust water filtration system in place, the next step towards self-sufficiency in the homestead is a rainwater harvesting system. Such systems make the most sense in areas with good regular rainfall, obviously, and can help you to be less reliant on city water and your local municipal infrastructure. A rainwater collection system also gives you some peace of mind–even if something goes wrong at the city treatment plant, you can rest easy knowing that you have a backup means to getting potable water.

What Is Healthy Home Design?

Healthy home design is the integration of health and safety considerations into the basic planning, design, and building of a home. These sorts of design choices can also be made to optimize long-term energy usage and savings, and in general to create a greener and more sustainable living space.

What Are the Top Benefits of Upgrading to a Healthier Home?

Increased health, energy, and quality of life are the biggest benefits from making your home healthier and more sustainable. You can also save money in the long run, be part of a greener Earth, and help to increase and maintain the value of your home and property.

What Are Some Budget-Friendly Healthy Home Upgrades?

Many healthy home upgrades can be had on a budget. Water filtration systems, for instance, are very affordable these days, with excellent options existing in the $50-$200 range. Air filters and even air purifications systems have also become more affordable in recent years, as the technology has improved, and become more widely available. Choosing healthy, low VOC paints and home supplies is another great and inexpensive way to improve home health.

What Are the Easiest Healthy Upgrades for Older Homes?

New windows and improved insulation can be a great choice for older homes, as can improving air and water filtration systems in the home. If your house is quite old, you may think about having your pipes redone, or repainting with modern, safe paints that are certified lead-free and VOC-free. Older homes often require more care when renovating, as time has often worn things down, and replacing them can open up new, and unexpected jobs.

Whatever the current condition of your home, you and your family can certainly benefit from implementing some healthy home upgrades.

Not only can you improve your quality of life by breathing better, drinking better water, and maintaining a comfortable temperature and environment. With all of the excellent options available today to live better and save money in the process, now is the time to upgrade your living space to a place you will love for years to come.