First time home buyer looking to go green and save a lot of money for the long run.?
Buying my first home. Would like to save on bills by utilizing wind energy/solar power, waste oil heaters, insulate home good, and switching lights to florescence/leds.
Any other ideas people got out there?
You can get a federal tax credit for up to $1,500 for making "green" improvements to the home. There are details of it here http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=tax_credits.tx_index and it also lists different improvements, which may give you some ideas of what to do as well.
Some of the things I didn’t see you mention were geothermal heat pumps and thermopanel windows.
October 28th, 2009 at 11:49 am
You can get a federal tax credit for up to $1,500 for making "green" improvements to the home. There are details of it here http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=tax_credits.tx_index and it also lists different improvements, which may give you some ideas of what to do as well.
Some of the things I didn’t see you mention were geothermal heat pumps and thermopanel windows.
References :
October 28th, 2009 at 12:29 pm
The initial investment on these things are going to be significant. A solar system starts about $20,000. Vinyl windows are energy efficient. Water recapture systems. There is a ton of info on the net about green living.
References :
Oregon Realtor
October 28th, 2009 at 12:57 pm
One idea is to make sure that the improvements you want to make are allowed in your area. The local zoning ordinances or HOA may prohibit some of them.
Also, as has been pointed out, some of the things you mention are not cheap to retrofit into a house. I’m averaging $50/month on electricity. Assume that I can put in solar power to totally supply my needs. At the 20K to get the system set up mentioned by another poster, I’d have to live in the house 33 years to _start_ saving money. And where I live, wind power would not be approved by the HOA.
And you also want to keep resale value in mind. If the items you put in are odd and take special maintenance, a lot of people are going to be scared to buy your place, so you will probably have to sell at a lower price.
References :
October 28th, 2009 at 1:29 pm
I hear you and there are many little things you can do. Shrink wrap the windows during winter yes it does help in windows that you do not use put on 4 mil plastic. Water saver shower heads. If you are handy you can build solar energy heating units cheap, built one for test and have a 20 degree change in temp between input and output and will be putting it in a south facing window this summer, and build a couple more. Go around the home and caulk around windows and doors, have you furnace checked and serviced.
References :