If you are a homeowner or an investor you are probably thinking about what bills will look like in the future when you buy a house. Let’s say you are a first time home buyer and you are buying a house for yourself. How much my energy bill would be in the coldest months in the winter or how much money my electric bill will be during hot summer days. I think that’s a really great question. In my opinion there are 4 main things you can take care of to see lower bills when buying a house during winter as well summer months. Let’s break them down and see how we can save some money.
Updated windows are one of the four updates we will be talking about. When buying a house most of the people look at what kind of windows are installed in the house. There are a couple of types of windows you can discover when doing the walk through. When the house you are buying has the old wooden windows then it’s more likely they are not so energy efficient. Most of them have a single glass and no storm window at all. In today’s market potential buyers like to see at least double pan windows filed with the optimum gas inside. There are a lot of different types and brands of windows you can buy and prices are very. From my experience, a more expensive one will give you what you are looking for and for sure it will reduce your energy bills in the long run.
Insulation is another great way to lower your bills. Before buying a house most of the buyers will hire an inspector who can verify where and what type of insulation is inside the walls or in the attic. Another great way to add insulation is to add foam board on your exterior walls. Foam boards come in a variety of thicknesses and they prevent wind withdrawals. I bet in your lifetime you had a feel inside the house like a chill wind was blowing around your outlets for example. Yes, that’s what I’m talking about. When you combine attic insulation, inside the wall insulation and foam board on the exterior walls, that is a powerful combination that helps you lower your bills and maintain temperature inside your house. It may seem costly in the beginning but you will save a lot down the road.
Another great way to save some money is to switch to LED bulbs or lights. There are two advantages to LED lightning. They use a fraction of electricity of the ordinary bulb and they don’t possess fire hazard. You can install them in the recessed lights where they touch insulation directly and nothing will happen. Ordinary bulbs produce high temperatures around them and may cause fire. Yes you are reading it right fire. They may be a little bit expensive but like with everything above it will save you money or even a house. In today’s market people who are buying houses are looking for those types of updates or changes.
The fourth thing you can take care of to save money on electric bills is to upgrade your appliances. New models are coming with the energy star certificate. Energy Star is a government-backed labeling program that helps people and organizations save money and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by identifying factories, office equipment, home appliances and electronics that have superior energy efficiency. Very popular item with energy stars is a refrigerator. They are great options because they use less energy and save money over time. Often people when selling houses replace those old appliances to attract new buyers.
Next time when you will be buying or selling a house think about these four options you have. If you don’t want to do this type of update you can sell your house fast for cash to us. Call our office at 847 242 2212 or shoot us an email info@moderntimeshomes.com