Adding Value by Dennis O'Hagan

Affordable Ways to Green a Home for a Faster, Higher Sale...

RISMEDIA, Thursday, July 12, 2012— Offering potential homebuyers unique and timely features can sway them to choose your property over a competitor’s similar home. Homes offering these features can help sell a home quicker and possibly closer to the listing price.

In addition to the common home staging techniques sellers can implement, adding on some easy, but effective, energy- and water-saving options can greatly improve the attractiveness of a home. Savvy buyers will want to know utility costs, especially in older homes, and will be impressed at measures taken to reduce those costs.

Here are some easy projects that can increase a home’s appeal in a time of high energy costs, a competitive housing market and a growing focus on being green. With these quick improvements, you can market the home’s green features to attract more buyers:

Replace regular light bulbs in permanent fixtures with compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs use about one-fifth as much energy as regular bulbs and last about 12 times longer).

Install low-flow showerheads which will save on water heating and use.

Install an ENERGY STAR qualified programmable thermostat.

Close the damper on the fireplace. It sounds simple, but is often forgotten season to season and causes drafts and high energy loss.

Add insulation to an attic.

Seal basement rim joists. This is along the top of the basement wall where the cement or block comes in contact with the wood frame. This is a common area of air leakage.

Insulate water heater tanks for energy savings.

Repair water leaks in tubs, showers and sinks. Not only are they big water wasters, but a leak really shows the home is not cared for anymore.

Perform duct sealing or hire a contractor. Twenty percent of the air that moves through the duct system is lost due to leaks, holes and poorly connected ducts.

A unique, visible change that may attract a buyer is to use renewable sources in any flooring you might replace prior to listing. Options include recycled carpeting, bamboo, cork or other flooring from fast-growing wood sources.

You can also recommend a home-energy audit to help your clients identify other easy, but important, fixes. This will also demonstrate to potential buyers that the sellers are serious about home maintenance and improvement. It will give buyers a fun jumpstart, too, on accomplishing more efficiency improvements in their new home.

Being willing to partner with buyers creates an air of security that the home is still cared about and all parties want the buyers to have as great an experience in the home as the previous family did.

Home Warranty of America’s Green Plus option can be added to complement all the green efforts made by the seller. For details, click here.

Encouraging these smaller, but important, green ideas with your clients can be very beneficial to a quicker home sale.

Article by Monica O'Neill - Monica is marketing manager for Home Warranty of America.

Do Your Part: Top 7 Green Cleaning Secrets

RISMEDIA, Thursday, April 05, 2012— (MCT)—Spring is here and that means it’s time for a good spring cleaning. Instead of bringing in chemical cleaners to do the dirty work, opt for a deep, green clean. Using safer cleaning products helps create a healthier home and a healthier family. Today, I’m sharing my top seven green cleaning secrets to help you do your part for your environment.

1. White Vinegar Works Wonders
White vinegar is a natural disinfectant that works just about everywhere. Mix a 50/50 solution of vinegar and water for a germ-busting disinfectant to clean kitchen counters, bathrooms, and most floors. You can bring this mixture to a boil in the microwave to loosen stuck on food and grease. And 1 cup of vinegar to the dishwasher in order to clean its inner workings. One warning: don’t use vinegar on marble or other porous surfaces.

2. Baking Soda Solutions
Baking soda works well on most things in the kitchen because it doesn’t scratch. That makes it a good choice for countertops, oven tops, stainless steel, and the sink. If you have stubborn stains, use a baking soda paste of three parts baking soda and one part water. Let it sit for a while, scrub the area, and then wipe clean.

3. Tackle Bathroom Blues with Borax
Borax is an effective mold killer and works well on hard water deposits. Use a paste to scrub the sides of the tub to a sparkling white, or mix a solution of one cup borax with one gallon of hot water to eat away at mold in tile grout. In addition, a cup of borax left in the toilet bowl overnight leaves it fresh and clean.

4. Choose Air Fresheners That Don’t Pollute
Many popular air fresheners contain a host of man-made chemicals that can contribute to indoor air pollution and the manufacturers aren’t required to list the ingredients on the label. These “air-fresheners” can actually leave dangerous levels of hormone disrupting phthalates or formaldehyde (a known carcinogen) behind. Fresh air, baking soda (sprinkled in everything from garbage cans to tennis shoes), soy candles, or essential oils are healthier options.

5. Green Your Laundry Routine
Green up laundry day by switching to a phosphate-free plant-based detergent. For softer clothes add ¼ cup of vinegar to the rinse cycle as a natural fabric softener (use less for HE machines). The smell of vinegar disappears as the clothes dry.

6. Break the Paper Towel Habit
You can wean your family off paper towels by keeping a drawer of reusable cloths nearby. Whether you choose kitchen towels, washcloths, or cut up old t-shirts, the key is in quantity. Make sure you have plenty of options on hand for wiping down the counters or cleaning up an unexpected coffee spill.

7. Safely Dispose of Household Hazardous Waste
Household hazardous waste refers to items such as old paints, chemical cleaners, used motor oil, and more. These items should never be thrown in the trash where they can contaminate our air, land, and water. Locate a full service recycling facility in your area by using the search engine at Earth911.com.

When you spring clean this year, there’s no need to pollute your home or the planet. Instead, find non-toxic solutions to tackle every project on your list. You can find a complete list of green cleaning recipes at DoYourPart.com/Columns along with my must-have items for every green cleaning kit. It’s an important way to Do Your Part for the environment and your family.

Terri Bennett is a veteran TV meteorologist, eco-expert and author of “Do Your Part: A practical guide for everyday green living” available at DoYourPart.com. Send questions to [email protected].

Simple tips for making your home more energy efficient...

You might assume that making your home energy efficient requires a lot of time and money, but generally that's not the case. Often small fixes can have a big impact on your heating, cooling, and other utility bills. Here are some easy things you can do to make your home more efficient right now:

Tip #1: Don't turn that dial
Keep your thermostat set at one temperature and leave it! In the winter around 68 degrees should be right, and 75 degrees in summer (in homes with a cooling system, of course). Avoiding constant adjustments will keep your energy bills stable.

Tip #2: Stop the drip-drips
Leaky showerheads and faucets are hard-to-miss energy wasters. Toilets that run can also cost you on your water bill. The majority of required repairs are covered in the most basic do-it-yourself handbook.

Tip #3: Go fluorescent
While compact fluorescent light bulbs cost more than the standard incandescent bulbs that you're used to, they last up to five times longer and use only a quarter of the electricity. Many of these bulbs last over five years, and each energy-saving fluorescent bulb will save you $40 to $60 on your electric bill over the course of its lifetime.

Tip #4: Watch that fireplace
Energy can really leak out of that fireplace. Check the dampers and screens to make sure that energy isn't leaking when the fireplace is not in use. If the fireplace is just for decoration, cover the chimney. A well maintained fireplace should be an economical way to heat your house and add a warm atmosphere as well.

Tip #5: Keep those appliances humming
Clean air conditioning and furnace filters frequently, and have your appliances inspected once a year. Efficient appliances lower energy bills and future repair costs.

Tip #6: Windows that waste
Windows are the most common energy waster. Make sure that all the weather-stripping is in good condition, and consider double-paned windows and storm shutters to reduce the energy drain.

Hopefully these ideas help you create a more energy efficient home. Energy efficiency is not only an important part of conservation; it's also a great way to save money. More homeowners tips are available on my website. If you have any questions about your home, I'm only a phone call away.

Heating Your Home Efficiently...

Regardless of what the weather brings this winter, heating your home efficiently is probably something on your mind. Keeping your home a comfortable temperature when the weather turns bad doesn't have to be a financial drain. Here are some places to start:

Stopping Air Leaks

The first step to making your home more heat efficient is to identify air leaks. Common air leak sources such as recessed lights, attic entrances, doorframes, window frames, ducts (which we'll cover next) and electrical outlets can be a big drain of heat and money. You can check for air leaks yourself by walking through your home with a lit incense stick (horizontal smoke indicates a leak), or you can hire a technician for a more thorough inspection. Simple fixes like sealing around outlets and switches, caulking gaps in the framing, and plugging gaps surrounding pipes will typically result in noticeable savings.

Duct Problems

One of the most important systems in your home may be quietly wasting your energy dollars. Often overlooked, typical duct systems lose 25-40% of the heating or cooling energy put out by the central furnace, heat pump, or air conditioner. Common duct system problems include:

• Leaky joints or visible holes in the duct surface
• Disconnected ducts that have fallen away from each other
• Inadequate or poorly finished duct work
• Un-insulated or poorly insulated ducts in attics and crawlspaces

Most duct repairs should be made by or with the help of a trained professional, especially those that will take place in unconditioned spaces. A qualified pro can also help you more accurately assess the duct problems that you have. If you decide to make minor duct repairs on your own, keep in mind that duct tape is usually only intended as a temporary fix. Silicone caulking or cement with mastic are better sealing options. Improving your duct system efficiency can cut your annual utility bills by as much as $300, and will improve the overall air quality in your home.

Keep your Home Insulated

Properly insulating your home is one of the most cost-effective ways to cut down on your energy loss. Improving the insulation in your home can cut your heating and cooling costs by as much as 30%, and will create a more uniform, comfortable temperature in your home. Better insulation will also help decrease outdoor noise. Check the insulation in your attic, ceilings, exterior and basement walls, floors, and crawl spaces to see if they meet recommended standards for your area. Insulation is measured in R-values: the higher the R-value, the less transfer of heat through the material. Typically the easiest and most cost-effective way to improve your home's insulation is to add insulation to your attic.

Fireplace Issues

Despite their undeniable aesthetic appeal, fireplaces are not desirable in terms of energy efficiency. Only about ten percent of the wood's energy is transferred to the room as heat, the rest escapes up the chimney. When in use, the fireplace also pulls cold air into your home through cracks and leaks, and when not in use the brick and stone mass of most fireplaces readily conducts heat from your home to the outside. To minimize energy waste from the fireplace in your home, make sure the damper or flue is shut tightly when the fireplace is not in use. Consider the benefits of things like tempered glass doors, fireplace inserts that seal dormant openings, and heat exchangers that recover some of the energy that would otherwise be lost.

Thermostat Solutions

That little box on the wall can be a tool for big energy savings. You can save up to 3 percent for every one degree that you lower the temperature in your home over a 24-hour period in winter. You can also save up to 10% annually in your heating and cooling bills by adjusting your thermostat down 10% to 15% for an 8-hour period each day. Turning the heat down while you sleep or while you're away at work is a simple and logical energy efficiency solution. If the prospect of waking up to a chilly house doesn't excite you, buy a programmable thermostat. They are inexpensive and adjust the temperature in your home based on the schedules you determine.

Ceiling Fans

While most people think if ceiling fans as a cooling solution, they can also help maintain a warm temperature in your home during winter. Running a ceiling fan in reverse circulates rising warm air back down to living areas. Consider ceiling fans for your home, particularly if you have rooms with high ceilings that seem to stay colder. Ceiling fans vary in price depending on things like material and size, but many are inexpensive and easy to operate.

Home Tip - Living Green

Live greener by minimizing consumption, maximizing recycling and repurposing household items.  Decrease your carbon footprint by also using environmentally-friendly cleaners and buying necessities in bulk.

The Benefits of Composting

The good news about recycling is large amounts of aluminum, plastic and glass are not entering our overburdened landfills. The bad news is that paper and food — the two largest contributors — account for more than half of all landfill waste. Worse yet, buried food scraps become essentially embalmed, producing methane gas for up to 30 years. Methane is a greenhouse gas that has a warming effect 23 times as potent as carbon dioxide.

Fortunately, food and paper are biodegradable and are perfect for composting. Composting is the most efficient type of recycling. Composting requires a mix of green nitrogen-rich organic materials (e.g., vegetable scraps, grass clippings, green leaves) and brown carbon-rich organic materials (e.g., newspaper, cardboard, dry leaves). The correct combination of these materials (roughly one-third green and two-thirds brown), along with the proper moisture, oxygen and heat, allows beneficial microscopic organisms to thrive and subsequently breakdown the organic material for plant use.

The end result of composting is an entirely organic fertilizer, as opposed to chemical fertilizers that can contaminate drinking water and kill worms, frogs and fish, among others. And, aside from reducing landfill and providing nutrients for plants, composting is beneficial to the environment in many other ways as well: it introduces beneficial microbes to the soil, helps sandy soil retain moisture and lets wet clay soil drain better. Composting is also used to remediate, or cleanup, contaminated soil.

Composting can take various forms from a pile of debris rotated with a pitchfork to plastic bins, tumblers that are rolled around the yard to facilitate aeration and off-the-ground tumblers that are rotated by hand. There are also worm bins that employ the assistance of Red Wiggler earthworms to generate compost. This is known as vermicomposting. New indoor composters that automatically mix, heat and aerate can accommodate all waste foods and reduce the traditional composting time by 90%.

Light Up Your Life - and save on your utility bill...

FACT:  If every U.S. household replaced just one traditional light with an ENERGY STAR qualified bulb, we would save enough energy to light 7 million homes, save $600 million in utility bills, and reduce greenhouse emissions equivalent to removing 1 million cars from the road for a year, EPA estimates.  Collectively we could save $600 millions dollars.

Saving Resources / Saving Money

It seems that the "GREEN" movement boils down to conserving resources.  Not only does saving resources benefit the environment and future generations who will depend on them, but conservation can also be good for your bank account.

"Saving water and energy are two ways to save for the future.  There are many easy ways to conserve both to lessen your negative impact on the environment and see the difference on your monthly bills," said the City of McKinney's Environmental Education Coordinator Micah Barton.  By using less of non-renewable resources like water and energy, we can ensure more ia available for the future generations.

10 WAYS TO CONSERVE RESOURCES AND SAVE ON YOUR MONTHLY BILLS:

1. Turn the dial on your irrigation system from automatic to manual.  Even though you can water 2 times per week, you don't always need to.  A good way to determine your watering needs is to simply step on your grass.  If it springs back when you lift your foot, it doesn't need to be watered.
2. Recharge your coordless household products, like small appliances, electric shavers and power tools, instead of throwing away old batteries.
3. Put a thick layer of mulch - about two to six inches - around trees and plants.  Chunks of bark, peat moss or gravel slows the rate of evaporation.
4. Unplug your phone charger when it's not in use.
5. Don't water on windy days.  There's too much evaporation.
6. Use a power strip to disconnect the power supply to electronic equipment, eliminating energy usage even when the equipment is off.
7. Set lawn mower blades one notch higher.  Longer grass means less evaporation.
8. Replace your lawn and high-water-using trees and plants with native and adaptive plants that use less water and are more drought tolerant.
9. Make sure air ducts and vents aren't blocked, allowing air to circulate freely throughout the room.
10. Run only full loads in the washing machine and dishwasher.