While dropping a lot of cash will certainly earn you some back, you don’t have to spend $24,000 to get some serious return on your investment. For anyone that’s up for it, hey, more power to you — get yourself some shiny solar panels and enjoy! — but here are seven upgrades that won’t cost you in the 10’s of thousands, that’ll earn you a return on your investment much more quickly than they might have before.
Yes, I say investment because energy efficiency is about saving money in the long run. To figure out your exact calculations, the US Department of Energy provides a page on the equations; here are some tips to get you started.
The most important thing that the USDOE suggest is to:
Get an energy audit. This one is a definite must. According to TreeHugger:
The plan will likely create a new program where private contractors conduct home energy audits, buy the necessary gear and install it, according to a staffer on the Senate Energy Committee and Nadel at the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy. Big-ticket items like air conditioners, heating systems, washing machines, refrigerators, windows and insulation would likely be covered.
This will show you with a “blower door” test where you are seeping cold or hot air into your home, which will tell you where work needs to get done to save and go green. Perhaps the best part is that once you get this analysis of your home done, you have a contractor on hand who will get you all the rebates for everything. Yippee!
You can also get my book Do-It-Yourself Home Energy Audits from the Green Guru Guides; authored by David Findley.
Other great ways to save green too!
OTHER GREAT WAYS TO SAVE GREEN TOO!
Can’t Afford to Live Off-Grid? Reduce Your Energy Use 6 Ways
You Will Save Money With Insulation
Save Energy With An Attic Stair Cover
The so-called “Cash for Caulkers” stimulus project has been bouncing around the news for a couple of weeks now, and, while nothing is official quite yet, there are some promising developments. Most notably, each household is eligible for a whopping $12,000 in rebates, which sounds great. And it is great, if you’ve got some cash — er, $24,000 or so — lying around, ready to be invested in your home. Yep, $12,000 is the max rebate, at 50 percent of what you spend, so, while it’d be great to get that money back, you’ll have to fork over a bunch of money to do so.
Not to worry, though. While dropping a lot of cash will certainly earn you some back, you don’t have to spend $24,000 to get some serious return on your investment. For anyone that’s up for it, hey, more power to you — get yourself some shiny solar panels and enjoy! — but here are seven upgrades that won’t cost you in the 10’s of thousands, that’ll earn you a return on your investment much more quickly than they might have before.
Yes, I say investment because energy efficiency is about saving money in the long run. To figure out your exact calculations, the US Department of Energy provides a page on the equations; here are some tips to get you started.
1. Get an energy audit. This one is a definite must. According to TreeHugger:
The plan will likely create a new program where private contractors conduct home energy audits, buy the necessary gear and install it, according to a staffer on the Senate Energy Committee and Nadel at the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy. Big-ticket items like air conditioners, heating systems, washing machines, refrigerators, windows and insulation would likely be covered.
