Lisa Barton

Thinking of making the switch to a tankless water heater? You may want to consider these points before purchasing.

Tankless water heaters have been drawing a lot of attention lately. Makers of these units often promise dramatic energy savings and endless hot water flow. However, this may not always be the case. 

In several studies by Consumer Reports, tankless water heaters were found to have a slow return on investment. In fact, it could take up to 22 years to see the benefits. Tankless water heaters work when quick-acting, high-powered burners heat the water as it flows through a heat exchanger. A typical tankless water heater can cost between $800 and $1,150, almost double the cost of the more traditional storage-tank heaters. In addition, installation can be significantly more expensive if upgrades are needed to electrical outlets, water or gas lines, or pipes, as is often the case with the tankless units.

Did you know that there are only two tax credits still available under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009? This act extended incentives originally introduced in the Energy Policy Act of 2005.

• The Residential Renewable Energy Tax Credits for consumers installing solar energy systems, small wind systems, geothermal heat pumps, and residential fuel cell and microturbine systems is available until December 31, 2016 and can provide a 30% tax break.
• Tax credits are also available for plug-in electric drive conversion kits. According to the IRS website, the tax credit is equal to 10% of the cost of converting a vehicle to a qualified plug-in electric drive motor vehicle after February 17, 2009. The maximum credit is $4,000. Conversions must be completed prior to December 31, 2011.

Living in an older home and not quite sure how to make it more energy efficient?  Consider these eco-friendly changes:

• Upgrading the air conditioning and heating systems.
• Adding tankless water heaters.
• Replacing windows with low-e windows.
• Repainting with nontoxic paints.
• Retrofitting insulated areas with energy efficient spray foam insulation.

So, you're getting ready to put your home on the market and your real estate agent has suggested that you clean-out your garage. What do you do with all the toxic materials you've accumulated? It's important to get a handle on any hazardous household cleaning, automotive and gardening chemicals you may have stored on your property. You know you need to be careful when you read a label with "signal words" such as:

In July of 2009 the Florida Legislature passed a landmark bill called the Florida-Friendly Landscaping bill. This act requires local governments and homeowners associations to participate in water conservation. The bill also encourages the use of indigineous plants, reducing the use of fertilizer and pesticides, and providing food and shelter for native animals.

The University of Florida has a wonderful website that offers suggests for Florida-Friendly Landscaping programs. Some of their suggestions include:

* RIght plant, right place
* Water efficiently
* Attract wildlife
* Stop the spread of invasive exotic plants
* Increase ground water recharge
* Minimize disturbance of existing native plants

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) just launched a super cool new website for homeowners. HouseLogic is designed to be a source of information on all aspects of homeownership including: maintenance, improvement, and how-to’s. This site will also be a good reference tool for general questions about important topics such as home finances, insurance, green improvements, etc. HouseLogic is designed to be user-friendly and you can set up your own account to help you plan and keep track of home projects. Makes me proud to be a member of the National Association of Realtors. Check it out!

A new poll of nearly 1,000 Realtors offers a glimpse at the top “green” improvements recommended by real estate professionals to help move a sale property off the market.

The upgrades are all fairly inexpensive and include:
* planting native greenery
* replacing air filters
* staging the home with recycled or reusable props
* weather-stripping doors and windows
* installing programmable thermostats
* installing low-flow showerheads
* using turn-off power strips
* replacing standard lighting with CFL or LED bulbs
* choosing low-VOC paint

And while three of those nine options get back at least twice as much in sale price gains as they cost, none have a bigger return on investment (ROI) than the top five traditional upgrades suggested by realty practitioners in a November survey. Cleaning and de-cluttering a home before it goes on the market, for instance, will cost the owner less than $200 to complete but bumps up the property’s sale price by almost $1,700 – for a staggering ROI of 872 percent.

Other high-ROI traditional improvements recommended by the real estate community include home staging, lightening/brightening, landscaping and plumbing repairs.

Although they do not offer a great ROI, HomeGain says eco-improvements are becoming more popular; and with their energy savings and low cost of investment, they probably should be considered by all homeowners – not just those preparing their unit for sale.

Source: USA Today (01/14/10)
Nine Steps to Make Your Home More Green

There was an interesting article by Leslie Kaufman this week sent by floridarealtors.org that discussed one of the positive aspects of the current real estate market crisis. Land trusts as well as state and local governments have been able to boost conservation efforts as property values decline.

As promised in the Homes of the Future blog, here’s the follow-up on energy rebates from Heather, your favorite guest blogger.