Owning a home entails a lot of choices you have to make about maintaining and improving it. Over the last decade, the importance of energy-efficiency upgrades has moved to the forefront in the face of rising energy costs. Most of the energy you consume inside your home is used for heating it, and projects that improve the home’s ability to resist thermal changes and reduce heating bills are time and money well spent.
According to a study completed by the National Association of Realtors, heating and cooling costs top the list of improvements that homebuyers want, followed by efficient appliances and lighting.
Energy efficiency is such an important aspect of home ownership because utilities are a recurring expense that can sometimes reach the amount of the house payment. In addition, the money you spend on energy is money lost once the energy is used.
Another benefit of installing energy-efficiency upgrades for your home is that the next buyer could qualify for an energy-efficient mortgage (EEM). These are loans whose qualifying requirements are different than a standard conventional or FHA loan. The energy savings that buyers can demonstrate will be counted as income, increasing the amount that they can borrow or changing the qualifying ratios.
Homebuilders who construct homes to meet federal Energy Star standards receive certification. It’s a little more difficult to do as an homeowner in an existing home, but still possible by keeping the documents you received for installing HVAC equipment (and maintaining it) that meets the Energy Star program’s efficiency standards.
Besides upgrading to high-efficiency HVAC equipment, increasing insulation and lowering air infiltration, keep copies of the manufacturer’s specs for the items you upgrade as part of greening your home. When you’re ready to sell, give copies of the documents to your Realtor. Even if you don’t plan to sell it, you’ll benefit by having lower utility bills for decades.
A bonus in making these upgrades is the availability of federal energy tax credits for qualifying installations and improvements.
To learn more about high energy-efficiency upgrades, please contact us at Marsh Heating & Air Conditioning. We’ve provided superior HVAC services for the Twin Cities since 1974 and look forward to helping you to improve your home’s livability and salability.
Our goal is to help educate our customers in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about energy-efficiency upgrades and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.
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