Cindy's Blog

Baby it's cold outside....For the first time in what seems like forever, it really feels like winter!! If you're wishing that you had done anything to your home to update or upgrade recently, you are probably wishing now that it had something to do with heat- or perhaps windows, etc. (If you're not wishing that now, you will be when your oil/ gas/ electric bill comes!)

If you're wondering what you might do to remedy a chilly or drafty house in the winter, or to help keep a warm house cool in the summer, but also be able to recoup your investment, at least mostly, there are a few things you should know.

First of all, one really terrific thing that you can do is have an energy audit performed on your home. The audit can really capture where your heating and cooling losses are, as well as tell you where there are areas that "bad air" is getting into your home from areas like unconditioned crawl spaces, chimneyways, etc. Not only can they tell you what you already know, but they can show you where you need to make the changes. Often they, or someone they can recommend, can make the changes needed to save you sometimes up to 30% on your power bills!

This is definitely worth standing up and taking notice of! When we had an audit done on our home, we discovered that the vents in our basement were leaking like a sieve! The heat that was being pushed through there was leaking at a rate of about 1/2. The repairs only cost about $2000, but will make a huge difference in our energy consumption once completed.

We have already done the window "thing"- that is probably the most obvious, and best place to spend your money and get most of it back. It's not only a financially beneficial move (especially if you have or can use double hung vs. casement windows- they are much more economical, but don't always work for homes that have crank out casements). It is no joke when people say that the they have seen a huge difference in their bills and in their comfort level in the house. It is true- they really do what they are supposed to do. If they're installed correctly, they can keep the breeze from ruffling your hair while you're sitting at the computer, and keep you from feeling like you need to put a spaceheater in your kids' rooms so they don't freeze at night even though the heat is running full blast.

From a resale perspective, these things are huge, as well. As more and more more homes have them installed, the ones that do become vastly preferable to the same house that doesn't have the windows. While I always tell people that you typically don't get 100% compensation on things like that, sometimes the real difference is in time on the market, and ease of pricing.

In a market like the one that we're in, things like that can make a real difference, as they make you more competitive.

If you don't want to spend the money to do the windows- sometimes quite a large cost (ours cost over 10k!) and certainly if you're getting ready to sell your house in the next couple of months, you may not want to spend the money, since you are not going to see the rewards. The audit, thenm, may be the solution for you. If you have an auditor come in, the changes recommended (if you do them) could be enough to show that the house is higher on the efficiency scale, even if you don't have the much vaunted windows.