How to go green and save money, Utah
May 9, 2010
21 Ways to Green Your Home
An eco-friendly lifestyle doesn’t need to be difficult or expensive. Here are 21 easy ways to make your home a little greener — and put some money back in your wallet.
1. Switch to Energy Star-rated CFL bulbs, like GHRI fave Satco’s Mini Spiral S6202; they use 75 percent less energy and last 10 times longer than standard bulbs. You’ll knock $30 off your electric bill for each bulb over its lifetime.
2. Plant trees around the house strategically (on the south and west sides; shading the air-conditioning unit, if possible) to save up to about $250 a year on cooling and heating.
3. Install dimmer switches in the living and dining rooms and three bedrooms to dial down electricity fees about $37 a year.
4. Since 1992 legislation, all new showerheads must have a flow rate of 2.5 gallons per minute or lower. Replace your old showerhead and save up to $45 a month for a family of four.
5. Wrap an insulation blanket around your water heater and lower its running cost as much as 9 percent.
6. Run a full dishwasher whenever possible — it uses half or less of the water and energy of washing the same dishes by hand. And don’t waste water by rinsing before loading (today’s machines are designed to power off the mess).
7. Invest in a faucet-mounted water filter for a low $30, and use refillable bottles like our top-rated GHRI pick, the Nalgene OTG Everyday 24-ounce bottle. By giving up bottled water, a family of four can save about $1,250 a year.
Double-Duty Ideas
The goal is “reduce, reuse, recycle.”
8. Magazines. Roll up a couple of these and stick one into each of your calf- or knee-high boots so the footwear will keep its shape.
9. Empty paper-towel roll. Flatten,and use it to sheathe a knife kept in a drawer.
10. Small glass food jars. These make perfect see-through storage vessels for nails, screws, nuts, and bolts.
11. Old shower curtain. Stash one in your car’s trunk to line it when carting potentially messy paints or picnic and beach gear.
12. Used coffee grounds. Spread them over flower beds of acid-craving plants such as azaleas or rhododendrons.
13. Plastic tub. Get the largest-size container of yogurt, sour cream, or margarine. When done with the tub, rinse and reuse it as a travel dish for pets or for craft-supply storage.
14. Plastic gallon milk jug. Cut off top with a utility knife just above the handle and use as a scoop for kitty litter, birdseed, etc.
15. Foam packing peanuts. Put some in the bases of potted plants to help drainage.
16. Plastic mesh produce bag. Turn it into a no-scratch scrubber for a gunky pot or pan. Ball up the bag, scour, then throw the whole mess away.
Good (Enough) Ways to Go Green
17. Good Way: Switch to a front-loading washer from a top loader. In a recent GHRI test of front loaders, they used less than half the water traditionally used by a top loader for a full load.
Good Enough Way: Pocket up to 25 cents for every laundry load you wash in cold water (versus hot). Cold-wash three loads a week, and save up to $40 a year.
18. Good Way: Install a programmable thermostat, which can save an estimated $150 yearly if preset to cool your home’s air or pump up the heat (such as before you get home from work).
Good Enough Way: Lower your heater’s temp by 2 degrees to potentially lower your bill about $40 a year. In warm months, set the AC at 78 degrees (at 73 degrees, you’ll pay 40 percent more!).
19. Good Way: Upgrade two toilets made before 1992 to low-flow ones, and turn down water costs nearly $200 a year in a two-bathroom, four-person home.
Good Enough Way: Not in the budget to replace your toilets? Try Brondell Perfect Flush ($79), which will convert your toilet into a dual-flush — saving about half the water and $100 per year per toilet.
20. Good Way: Always look for the “organic” label on veggies and fruit, which means that they were produced without the use of synthetic pesticides and fertilizers.
Good Enough Way: If buying only organic is a strain on your finances, opt for organic versions of the items known to have the highest pesticide levels: peaches, apples, and bell peppers.
21. Good Way: Open windows and doors or operate window or attic fans when the weather permits. Most heating and cooling systems do not bring fresh air into the house.
Good Enough Way: Bring home superhero plants. Certain easy-care greens (English ivy, mums, and peace lilies) naturally help remove indoor air pollutants like formaldehyde and benzene.
Why a vacant home needs an inspection, Utah
May 8, 2010
Should you buy a home that’s been vacant?
It may seem like a great deal, but be aware of possible expensive repairs lurking inside.
By Marcie Geffner of Bankrate.com
A for-sale house that’s been vacant may look like a bargain, but buyers should be cautious, because expensive problems often lurk inside homes that have been unoccupied for some time.
A home can become vacant due to a marriage, job relocation, death or other life event. But vacancies today are more often due to a bank foreclosure or short sale in which the lender accepts less than the mortgage balance. It’s these bank-owned properties — sometimes called “real estate-owned,” or REOs — that tend to be “problem homes,” says David Tamny, owner of Professional Property Inspection in Columbus, Ohio, and 2010 president of the American Society of Home Inspectors in Des Plaines, Ill.
Vacant homes can suffer from a wide variety of ills due to neglect, deferred maintenance on the part of the previous cash-strapped homeowner, and vandalism, Tamny explains. Broken water pipes, stolen copper wiring, damaged appliances and mold are but a few examples of the potential problems that may await buyers of these homes.
The risks for buyers are front and center since the number and percentage of vacant for-sale homes has increased during the housing slump. More than 2.2 million for-sale houses in the U.S. were vacant in 2008, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. That figure was more than double the 1 million vacant for-sale homes in 2000. Vacant homes exist throughout the country, but the percentage of vacancies in 2008 was higher than the national average in the South, Midwest and West, and lower in the Northeast.
Turned-off utilities limit home inspection
Homebuyers typically hire a professional to conduct a visual inspection of the home and prepare a report on its condition. That’s a wise precaution, but not even a well-qualified and thorough home inspector can see inside walls. Nor can an inspector assess the condition of a home’s plumbing, electrical wiring, heating-and-cooling system or major appliances if the water, gas or electricity has been shut off.
“Buyers often don’t understand that if there is no electricity, they are going to get a very limited inspection,” Tamny says. “You could end up with a lot of surprises if you don’t have those systems turned on prior to the inspection.”
Swimming pools, which naturally are more common in such states as California, Arizona, Nevada and Florida — where foreclosure rates have been high — are also a special concern if a home has been vacant. Some inspectors won’t include a pool as part of a basic inspection. Others will include the pool, but again, it may be impossible for the inspector to check out the equipment if the utilities have been shut off.
“You probably will have to accept the pool (as-is because) it’s unlikely that you’ll be able to get the whole thing up and running just for the purpose of an inspection and then shut it back down,” Tamny says. “You could have thousands of dollars in repairs.”
As-is home purchase can be risky
Some banks have procedures in place that allow prospective buyers to turn on the utilities, but the buyer may be required to pay a deposit to the utility company and put his or her own name on the account, even though he or she doesn’t own the vacant home. That inconvenience may prompt some buyers to forgo parts of the home inspection that can’t be performed unless the utilities are on.
That can be risky, because unanticipated repairs can cost thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars, and the buyer typically will have no recourse with the bank. That means the buyer will be stuck with whatever problems the house has.
“Buyers are attracted to a house because it’s discounted from what it sold for a number of years ago and they are hoping to get a bargain. They don’t always understand that sometimes the problems make up the difference between the cost of the house and what they are getting for a discount,” Tamny says.
What’s your home worth?
Vacancy may affect homeowners insurance
Homebuyers also should know that insurance companies may decline to issue a homeowners insurance policy until the agent looks at the vacant home, says Dick Luedke, a spokesman at State Farm in Bloomington, Ill. The agent’s once-over isn’t the same as a professional home inspection, but it can mean extra expense if the home is in poor condition.
“If the home is uninsurable, we wouldn’t write the policy. If the problems just increase the risk of the potential of a future claim, then that might increase the premium,” Luedke says.
A homeowners insurance policy also may require a vacancy endorsement, again at an extra charge, if the home will continue to be vacant for more than 30 days after the sale. If the vacancy is due to major repairs, a dwelling-under-construction rider may be necessary as well.
Inspectors, Richard Belt and John Bracket, bring to you over 46 years experience from the construction and engineering fields.