Money, Good Health and a Comfortable Home, We Have Solutions!

Why Get an Energy Audit?  Watch this Video….

Is Your Air Conditioner Feeling the Heat?

Visiting family last month in the south brought home the importance of comfort.  After all, it was vacation and we were visiting a wonderful home able to accommodate a few families coming together.  It was a relatively new home too, clearly built to entertain, with large open spaces and expansive porches.   While it was great to relax on those porches, the afternoon sun often caused us to retreat inside for some cool air.  The air conditioners seemed to run the whole time we were there and I’d bet that was the case for much of the summer.

Always thinking about how efficiently a house works, I have to say there were a few rooms that always seemed to be on the warm side.  They were second story rooms above the garage with small closed off side attics.   The air conditioner had to work particularly hard to keep these spaces cool and the rooms really didn’t cool off until the sun went down.

Built to code, spacious and beautiful with all the bells and whistles, this home only fell short in one area:   performance.  For me this translates into more than just a loss in energy efficiency but also a lack of comfort.

I can’t stress enough the benefits and values from a comprehensive home assessment, even for new homes.  In fact, next time I visit I might bring along a blower door and infrared camera to conduct my own assessment.  Then I would be able to provide the family with some real solutions for their home performance.  After all, it’s the least I can do considering how well they fed me!

Thanks,

Jason

Fixes for Hidden Costs Reveal Hidden Benefits!

The offender in many folks’ minds when it comes to pollution is the automobile, not our homes.  It seems to be ingrained in our heads that automobiles are the worst offenders; I won’t discourage alternatives.   But, in fact, we generate twice as much carbon dioxide emissions as we consume coal, oil, and natural gas—directly or indirectly—in our homes.

Imagine what happens if we cut the energy use in our homes by half?  The scale might balance out for sure, but there are definitely more benefits, saving money for one.  We do this on a daily basis.  Improving their home’s insulation and air tightness, heating and cooling systems, and more, will typically save our customers at least 25%, but often much more.

It all starts with a comprehensive home assessment which helps drive pollution and energy cost reduction in the home.  But the biggest impact we hear about from our customers is how comfortable that drive can be!  The end result we sometimes forget about is the level of comfort revealed after the job is done.

Thanks,

Jason

Image from the DOE’s home energy saver website

Chu: Saving Energy Saves Money

OK, perhaps a bit obvious. But Energy Secretary Steven Chu blogs in yesterday’s Huffington Post:   “Energy efficiency is simply good economics. It will save you money. It will create jobs. It is a way for you to personally decrease your carbon emissions and help save our planet.”

Thanks,
Mike

Investing in Your Home

Wow!  The financial markets are a mess.  My 401(k) has tanked this quarter. The economy is reportedly in dire straits, and Congress hasn’t agreed on a bailout or any other action plan yet.
 
A lot of people are wondering what to do with their money. You have to go somewhere else for financial advice about your portfolio and your retirement plan.  I would like you to think about one arena, though, that still can deliver a big Return on Investment (ROI).  Home energy improvements. Even with recent declines in oil, home energy prices are still quite a bit higher than they were a year ago and forecasted to rise again this winter. Smart investing in your home can deliver returns better than the current bond market and extremely volatile stock market.
 
Here are a few examples to quickly illustrate the potential.

Let’s say you invest $2,700 in attic insulation and air-sealing.  (Remember, never think about insulation without thinking about air-sealing, too.)   And let’s assume that insulation is able to help you save $400 per year off of your gas bill based on last year’s prices.   Your first year ROI is $400 divided by $2,700 or 14.8%.  When natural gas prices rise this winter, you save more and your ROI is even higher.
 
Another example, with a simple calculation tip for your furnace.  If your present furnace is at 70% efficiency (AFUE), and you install a high-efficiency system with an AFUE of 95%, then the projected saving is 25% of the fuel you burn.  Or, said differently you save $25 per $100. If your annual fuel bill is $1,400, then your total annual savings would be about $25 x 14 = $350.  If that new furnace cost $3,850, you’ve got a 9.1% ROI—plus, you won’t be wasting money on service calls to fix your old furnace. Like the earlier example, as energy prices go up, your return goes up.  
 
Now these are just simple examples.  You might want or need a combination of several home energy improvements.  You’d need a comprehensive assessment like GreenHomes offers to determine exactly which improvements make the most sense for you and your home.  And a GreenHomes Advisor can more accurately estimate your savings.  The take away, for you, is that now more than ever, energy-reducing improvements are a smart investment that will deliver consistent returns for years to come.