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In the
last few years, high-energy costs have resulted in many
people having to turn down their thermostats in the winter
and turn off their air conditioning in the summer.
Every year an increasing
number of elderly people have to make the decision to either
have heat or food, many cannot even afford the medicines
they need. Unfortunately, this situation will only get
worse. It has been estimated that if fuel prices keep rising
as they are, then by the year 2011, the average household
will be spending in an excess of $1,000 per month to heat
their home. When you add this cost to that which you will
need to fuel your car, the paycheck most of us receive will
be spent on fuel. In other words, our employers should just
hand over our paychecks to the fuel companies. One way to
combat this is to have a more energy efficient home.
In the past ten years, building technology has greatly
advanced to the point that several quality builders are now
using insulated concrete forms or ICF’s to build safer,
stronger, and more energy efficient homes. When filled in
with concrete, these ICF’s form a wall that has an energy
efficacy performance of R50. These homes also have a fire
rating of less than four hours.
If you think that you could never afford a home like this,
think again. The cost of construction is only approximately
10% more than building a wood-frame home. However, you
regain this 10% over the years through lower energy costs as
well as in maintenance costs.
However, if you do not want to build a new home and more,
then there are energy saving options you can do to your
existing home including replacing your old tank hot water
heater with a high efficiency tankless water heater. The
energy efficiency rating for a tankless or on demand water
heater 30% higher when compared to a standard gas water
heater or as much as 70% when compared to a standard
electric water heater. Other options include installing
energy efficient Low-E Argon windows. Replace your heating
and cooling systems with heat recovery ventilators, which
are attached to a geoexchange energy efficient heating,
cooling system, which provides radiant in floor heating,
forced air heating, air conditioning. This system can reduce
your heating and cooling bills by as much as 50%.
Forever gone are the days when we purchased a home simply
based on the school system, how the home looks, or the
neighborhood in which it is located. Today, homeowners have
to be energy efficient wise. They have to be consciously
aware of all the energy-saving features as well as all the
energy-wasting features that are in the new home they wish
to purchase or in the home they currently own. In order to
cut energy bills, these energy-wasting areas have to be
corrected. For most, this is also true if you wish to sale
your home. Many homebuyers are choosing homes that are
energy-efficient, as well as environmentally sound over
homes with added amenities, which have little or no positive
effect on their energy bills.
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