solar post lights
Energy Efficiency for New Home?
Hello All,
Sorry, for the double post. Initially I posted to a wrong category.
I’m Austin, Texas. Planning to purchase a new home. Wondering what best energy efficient features I should asked the builder.
Have you done anything yourself? Economical?
What should I target mainly?
Solar? Ventilation?
Windows are huge in family room with high ceiling. What windows should I go for to protect myself in Texas heat?
One of the builder was saying they added ‘Tech Shield radium sheet’ to the roof and says it reflects light, and saves electric bill. Are those effective?
Any rebates or incentives goverment offer?
Thanks!
Having just moved from Texas to PA there are a lot of things that you can do to help conserve energy. Windows are the #1 way that heat gets into or out of your house. Find out what type of windows are available; whether they have Low-E coating; are Argon filled; double, triple or quadruple paned (the more panes of glass, the more energy is absorbed). Post purchase I would certainly get them coated with a tint and you may also want to consider heavy drapes for the rest of the windows that you can close during the day. This goes a long way to keeping heat out.
Soalr would be a great way to lower your cooling costs in the summer, but it is usually quite expensive to install.
Ceiling fans are a must in all the bed rooms and in the living room.
A well insulated house will also go a long way to saving you money. Ask the builder how many inches of insulation were put in the attic and in the walls. Hopefully there is at least 6 inches in the walls and preferably 10-12″ in the attic. If not, you can put more in the attic post purchase. Also, see if there are roof fans installed to vent the hot air from the attic to the outside. These are fairly inexpensive and easy to install and really make a big difference to cooling off the house.
A programmable thermostat will also go a long way to saving you some $$. I had one in my house and had it programmed to turn the air off at 8am when I left for work and turn back on around 4pm before I got home and then back down around 70 degrees around 12pm. This is also a simple post purchase fix.
As far as tax savings go, this past year the federal governement gave a $500 tax credit for certain energy improvements that you made to your house. It worked on a percentage basis. For instance, you got 5% of the cost for adding insulation (including labor) to your house; 10% of the cost for addign a more energy efficient boiler & also 10% of the costs for installing new windows. It’s hard to tell if they will offer it again this year, but be sure to save your reciepts for any energey improvements you may make (even caulking around windows is considered an energy improvement).
Hope this helps somewhat! No matter what you do, plan on having at least a $200 energy bill from about May through September. Have some fun on 6th street for me!
Message from Mother Earth (IV) 2012
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