Take Action: Energy Efficiency in Your Home!
This post was written by South Mountain Partnership Program Subcommittee member Ronald Grim. Learn from Ron, a certified “Green” Realtor, how energy efficiencies within your home are easy to do, and can help your wallet AND the environment!
An energy efficient home can be more comfortable, more affordable, and healthier to live in, and home energy audit can help you figure out the best way to begin. Home energy audits can help determine which windows, doors, and cracks energy dollars are escaping from. The DIY home energy checklist can help make sure you’ve checked and sealed all of them. This is also a great opportunity to take note of other potential problem areas in the home. Enlisting the help and advice of local preferred professionals can help you decide the best way to approach each project appropriately and effectively.
An energy efficient home can, and does, help the environment and planet. It can also help save money. A home with a properly running HVAC system, that has proper insulation, and a tightly sealed building envelope, has less drafts and uses less energy to heat and cool. Clean and properly serviced HVAC systems work less and use less energy to heat and cool a home. This means less energy used to heat and cool the home, which means it can cost less to live in. Homes with a sealed building envelope can reduce drafts, making them warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer.
In addition to saving money, energy efficient homes fetch a premium on the market. Even though not everyone is looking for GREEN or high performance when purchasing a new home, most people have said they would choose the home that costs less and is more comfortable to live in. Homeowners that make energy efficient upgrades should take before and after photos, as well as, save receipts from any work done. This will help show potential buyers the care that was put into the home, and what energy efficient benefits they will be able to appreciate.