Green Real Estate Appraiser

Aussies have a suggestion to get more from your solar panels when you’re actually at home – Split Style Installation

Posted on December 4, 2017 | Leave a comment

Solar panels alone won’t make the biggest impact in driving down power bills.

Other ways to drive down costs even further is through smarter panel alignment, which can boost hours of sun exposure, and installing battery storage.

Solar energy company Shinehub’s co-founder and solar consultant Alex Georgiou said historically solar rooftop panels in Australia have been installed as a single, north-facing unit, to make use of the midday sun, but fail to provide solar energy when users are at home later in the day.

Solar engineer Jin Kim says a split-style installation is needed to increase efficiency and panel usage.

“North-facing panels will pump plenty of energy back into the grid, but the vast majority of households panels need to be facing in other directions, like east and west, in order to generate power at the times you’re actually at home and using it,” Kim says.

Georgiou claims that users of this split-style installation were running power bills as low as $10 per month during winter.

Peters says this simple panel alignment change nearly halved his costs.

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San Diego home prices increases among highest in nation

Posted on November 29, 2017 | Leave a comment

San Diego was among the top three cities in the U.S. with the biggest annual home price increases in September, said a key real estate index released Tuesday.

The region’s home prices have risen 8.2 percent in a year, said the S&P Case-Shiller Indices. Only Seattle and Las Vegas had bigger increases in the 20-city index.

San Diego also made its way into the top three cities in the previous month. Before that, the last time it received that distinction was 2014.

Susan Wachter, a real estate economics professor at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, said San Diego’s price increases show steady job growth but, like much of the nation, a lack of homes for sale.

“Every job doesn’t come along with a new house. That’s the bottom line,” she said. “Supply doesn’t necessarily respond to demand, and it hasn’t.”

San Diego County added 24 new homes for every 100 jobs created from 2012 to 2016, according to building permits and the U.S. Census. As of September, the region was adding about 30 homes per 100 jobs.

San Diego’s yearly increase outpaced the nationwide gain of 6.2 percent and the other California cities covered by the index, Los Angeles (6.2 percent) and San Francisco (7 percent).

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Test help consumers sort out home paint price and quality – are expensive, trendy paint brands worth it?

Posted on November 27, 2017 | Leave a comment

Choosing paint colors is hard enough, but these days consumers have to decide among dozens of paint brands — plus different quality levels within those brands. And then there’s price. Will paying $100 a gallon get you a better paint than if you pay $30 a gallon? It’s almost as maddening as choosing between Paper White and Whisper White. Here’s help.

You may think of Consumer Reports as a resource for buying cars and electronics, but the nonprofit magazine also tests paints, grading them on the traits consumers say are most important. Exterior paint is judged on its appearance after tests that simulate multiple years. Interior paint is evaluated for factors including its ability to cover old colors in a single coat, whether it can withstand scrubbing, and its mildew and fade resistance.

In the most recent rounds of testing, a remarkable four out of the top five interior and exterior paints were hardware store brands. So, right away, we know you don’t have to buy a premium brand to get great paint. On the other hand, the very cheapest paints, those that cost between $17 and $27 a gallon, didn’t make it into the top five. “Generally, spending more money does not always equate to a better paint,” said Rico De Paz, paint-testing program leader at Consumer Reports. “But it’s probably a good idea to stay away from the most inexpensive brands at most retailers without checking our ratings first.”

disclaimer: for information and entertainment purposes only

Aussies have a suggestion to get more from your solar panels when you’re actually at home – Split Style Installation

San Diego home prices increases among highest in nation

Test help consumers sort out home paint price and quality – are expensive, trendy paint brands worth it?

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