Home Buyers Will Appreciate Energy Efficient Improvements

With energy costs continuing to rise, buyers will appreciate homes equipped with energy efficient materials, appliances and technology.   Knowing that their ongoing costs to cool and heat the home will be reduced gives new home buyers peace of mind, especially if they are buying up to a larger home.  And remember, resale homes often are in direct competition for buyers with brand new homes, and new homes are likely to be outfitted with more energy efficient materials.

Energy Efficient Products and Materials

Consider these improvements to boost the energy efficiency in your home for sale:

• Add more insulation, especially if your home does not have the minimum R factor for insulation in your region of the country.  Many utilities offer their customers a free energy assessment which includes a survey of the home’s insulation.
• Install a programmable thermostat.  They do a better job of regulating the temperature in your home.  With the capacity to program temperature settings according to the family’s schedule, these thermostats offer an easy and painless way to reduce your power bill.  Homeowners can program the thermostat to keep the home a few degrees warmer in the summer or cooler in the winter during the hours when no one is in the home, and reset it to reach a more comfortable temperature just before everyone returns.
• Replace older windows with newer double-pane, Low-E glass, EnergyStar replacement windows.  For unbiased information on energy efficient windows, consumer fact sheets and recommended energy ratings for your geographic location, visit the Efficient Windows Collaborative.
• Replace your conventional hot water heater with a new tank-less water heater.  A water heater is the second largest energy consumer in your home behind the heating and cooling system.   Upgrading to a new tank-less water heater can significantly reduce annual energy consumption in a household.  Rather than paying to heat and store a tank full of hot water 24 hours a day, a tank-less water heater heats the water on demand, allowing you to save up to 50% on energy costs and ensure you never run out of hot water.
• Install ceiling fans. During the summer months, running the ceiling fan in a counter-clockwise direction produces airflow that makes people in the room feel cooler.  Conversely, operating the ceiling fan during the cooler months in the clockwise direction at low speed forces warm air near the ceiling down into the room.  Using ceiling fans properly enables homeowners to adjust the thermostat a degree or two and still remain comfortable.  Fans cool the people, not the space, so turn them off when no one is in the room.   Ceiling fans have been given EnergyStar ratings for operating efficiency, so be sure to research before you buy.

Need further incentive?  The IRS and your local power utility may offer you credits and rebates to help you recoup some of the costs!  The Federal Energy Policy Act provides tax payers a 10% credit for improving the energy efficiency of existing homes with qualified improvements.  The improvements must be made to the primary residence in the U.S. and put into use before January 1, 2008.  Many utility companies across the country are also offering incentives and rebates to homeowners who install energy efficient materials.

Making energy efficient home improvements is a smart decision all the way around.  You’ll impress potential buyers, increase the resale value of your home, and by saving energy, you’ll do your part to protect the environment.  Stay tuned for more suggested home improvements that will attract buyers and boost your home’s resale value.

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