Tag Archives: home solar

Why understanding home energy performance will become a key to real estate success

Posted on April 27, 2017 | Leave a comment

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Real estate professionals play a pivotal role in the U.S. residential real estate market. Overseeing from start to finish the multiple steps and piles of paperwork involved with property transactions, they support both sellers moving forward with the next stage of their lives and buyers looking for a new place to call home. They provide trusted and influential guidance that affects the largest investment that most of us will ever make: our homes.

Home energy performance is too often overlooked by buyers and sellers during property transactions, and buyers seldom have easy access to energy performance information. Even though U.S. homeowners spend on average about $2,200 per year on energy bills and increasingly indicate demand for energy-efficient homes, real estate professionals generally undersell (or are unaware of) the benefits of homes with strong energy performance. These benefits include improved comfort, health, privacy, programmability, and interconnectivity, as well as increased monthly affordability and—where relevant information is made available—resale value. Moreover, U.S. real estate listings generally lack details about a property’s energy performance, energy-efficient features, and estimated utility costs. This omission contributes to the unnecessary perpetuation of the invisibility of home energy upgrade investments, housing dissatisfaction, underinvestment in home energy upgrades, plateauing residential energy savings, and risks to U.S. real estate market stability.

Opportunity is calling for all real estate professionals to tap into the promising U.S home energy upgrades market by helping clients understand, prioritize, and invest in home energy performance during the property transaction process—when buyers and sellers already tend to make general home improvements. Real estate professionals who enhance their home energy performance capabilities can lead their competitors on market trends and improve the long-term prospects of their business.

read more at: http://zeroenergyproject.org/2017/04/14/sold-understanding-home-energy-performance-will-become-key-real-estate-success/

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How to get the most out of a home solar system

Posted on August 26, 2016 | Leave a comment

If you’ve already enlisted in the solar energy crusade or are thinking about making an investment in the near future, it’s important to do your research and evaluate how to get the most use out of your solar power system. Ensuring that your system is performing at its max is not only important to meet your electricity needs, but also to recover your upfront costs in the shortest amount of time.

Will it add value to your home?  Contact the appraisers at www.scappraisals.com the only appraisal company in SoCal that specializes in solar.

Evaluate your useage -To optimize usage, you first need to evaluate how you and your family currently use electricity in the home. One way to do this is by having a professional come out and conduct a home energy audit.

During this process, an expert will come to your home and evaluate how efficiently energy is currently being used, as well as suggest methods for improvement. Inspections should be thorough and review the entire structure, from top to basement. The auditor should check things such as your duct blasts, HVAC system, doors, and windows. These tests will reveal problem areas and ways to improve so you don’t end up wasting the valuable solar electricity you’ll be generating.

By figuring out how much energy you currently use, you’ll also be able to better determine the size of solar system you’ll need.

Price shop – If you’ve just begun the home solar process and are looking to compare prices from local installers in your area, try using a trusted solar power marketplace to receive a number of quotes and find a solution that works best for your solar energy project. It’s the quickest way to be able to compare prices and services from companies that are experienced with your solar local programs.

Don’t be afraid to ask plenty of questions of solar installer candidates, including their experience connecting customers to the utility grid, knowledge of state incentives, and maintenance programs offered.

read more at: http://www.motherearthnews.com/renewable-energy/how-to-get-the-most-out-of-your-solar-power-system-zbcz1607.aspx?newsletter=1&spot=headline&utm_source=WhatCountsEmail&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=MEN%20GEGH%20eNews%208-26-16&utm_term=MEN_GEGH_eNews&_wcsid=B549F6DA891AFF5B19151E535C083A3B40818365ED9222E3

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Is your home good for solar? Find out

Posted on May 20, 2016 | Leave a comment

If you’re starting to think about going solar, knowing that your home and solar are a good match makes the shopping process even easier. Here are the top five questions and answers that will help you determine whether solar is right for your home.

Will it add value to your home?  Contact the appraisers at www.scappraisals.com for your value questions.

1. How big is your electricity bill?

The factor that has the biggest impact on your long-term solar savings isn’t how sunny it is where you live – it’s how much you pay for your electricity. If you have high electricity rates, solar can save you major cash, even if you don’t live in the sunny Southwest. Don’t believe us? New Jersey, Massachusetts, and New York are proof: the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) ranked all three Northeastern states in its Top 10 Solar States for 2016.

2. What direction does your roof face?

You might have heard that your roof needs to face south for solar to be a worthwhile investment, but that’s no longer true. While it is true that your solar panels will produce more electricity if they are facing perfectly south, solar makes sense even for homes with east- and west-facing roofs. Since the cost of solar has dropped significantly in the past few years, significant solar savings are possible for you even if your roof doesn’t face perfectly south.

3. What material is your roof made of?

While solar panels can be installed on practically every roof material, some can be more complicated to work with than others. Not every solar company will install PV panels on a slate or cedar roof, so if your home’s roof is made of either of those materials, you will need to seek out an installer who has the experience and ability to work with them.

read more at: http://www.motherearthnews.com/renewable-energy/is-your-home-good-for-solar-find-out-now-zbcz1604.aspx?newsletter=1

disclaimer: for information and entertainment purposes only

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Posted in energy savings, Uncategorized

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