Tag Archives: san diego

Open Air Homes

There’s a good reason your life coach tells you to “bring down your walls.” It opens your mind, gives more breathing room and helps create a feeling of continuity. The same applies for architecture. Homeowners opting for fewer walls, floor-to-ceiling glass surfaces and wide-open spaces can bring in more light, make small areas look expansive and meld the living room with the backyard.

If you have a custom home contact the appraisers at http://www.scappraisalserv.com for your value questions.

More home buyers are striving to capture better views and “more of an indoor-outdoor relationship” with their homes and the environment, according to Utah-based architect Clive Bridgwater. Take, for example, the award-winning 9,000-square-foot abode Bridgwater designed with dramatic views of the snow-capped Wasatch Mountains.

Read and see more at: http://homes.yahoo.com/news/incredible-open-air-homes.html

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How to Warm Your Home

1. Prune those sun-suckers

Shady plants are great in summer, especially on the north and western sides of your property. But at this time of the year you want to get as much sun into your house as you can. Now is the time to prune plants blocking out your sunlight, if possible.

2. Let the sun in

When the sun is shining, remember to open curtains and blinds during the day, especially on the northern side of your home, but also the east (in the morning) and the west (in the afternoon).

However, you might consider leaving south-facing blinds and curtains closed on days when it is colder outside than in as the sun won’t hit those windows.

It’s very common to see homes shut up all day long with the curtains drawn. But before you head off to work or out for the day, opening the blinds and curtains on windows that get the sun can mean coming home to a much warmer property.

Read more at: http://smh.domain.com.au/blogs/talking-property/how-to-warm-your-home-20120515-1ynv1.html

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Georgia Home’s Yearly Energy Bill: $0

ATLANTA — In 2010, in the nippy environs of northeastern Canada, a family of six submitted to an experiment. Their task: spend one year living in one of the most energy-efficient homes built in North America. The house in New Brunswick looked like others except for the solar panels on the roof. But by year’s end, there was a more substantial difference — it was the only house on the block with a nonexistent energy bill.

Does this add value to your home?  More than likely; yes.  Contact the appraisers at www.scappraisals.com for your value questions.

“The house we built generated enough electricity for two families,” said Tom Black, vice president of Eco Plus Group USA, which partnered with Bosch to create the home.

Fast forward two years, and they have done it again, building the first Bosch Net Zero home in the United States at Serenbe in Chattahoochee Hills, Ga. The house, through the use of geothermal heat and solar voltaic panels, is designed to generate more electricity than it uses. The excess energy is stored on the distribution grid of GreyStone Power Corp., where it is redistributed as needed. At the end of the year, the series of energy credits and debits tracked by GreyStone should be at or near zero.

Read more at: http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2012/sep/08/tp-georgia-homes-yearly-energy-bill-0/

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