Did you know that strategically placed trees can be as effective as other energy-saving home improvements such as insulation or weather-tight windows? It’s true! Trees help reduce your heating and cooling costs. Trees save energy through cooling in the hotter months and can provide windbreak during winter. This results in burning fewer fossil fuels to generate electricity for cooling and heating. As the experts in trees for My Joy and the surrounding areas, we would like to tell you more about how trees help conserve energy.
With the temperatures climbing here in Pennsylvania, we thought now would be a great time to talk about the amazing cooling capabilities of trees. Strategically placed shade trees – a minimum of three large trees around your home can reduce air conditioning greatly. Shade trees offer their best benefits when you:
- Place trees on the south and west side of the home to help block sun.
- Shade hard surface areas such as driveways, patios and sidewalks to minimize heat load.
- Plant deciduous trees which shed their leaves during the winter. These trees provide shade and block heat during hotter months and, by dropping their leaves in the fall, they admit sunlight in the colder months.
- Plant trees with a broad canopy. This will provide the greatest shading benefits. A combination of large and smaller trees can be used on the west side of a building to reduce the late afternoon heat and glare when the sun is at a lower angle.
While deciduous trees will offer the best energy-conserving benefits in the summer, evergreens will help the most in winter. Use evergreens, which retain their leaves/needles year long, in a planned pattern. They will serve as windbreaks to save in energy used for heating. And remember, do not plant them on the south or west side of your home, because this blocks warming sunlight during the winter. These trees also provide some shading benefits during summer.
Are you interested in planting trees to help your home conserve energy? Our experts can help you choose the types of trees best suited to do so as well as help strategically place them and plant them around your home.
Let’s get started today! For more information on trees for your Mt Joy area home or business, call Root’s Nurseries at 717-898-0041 or contact us for a Free Estimate.
