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It is almost that time of year and as a first time home owner I am curious what you other guys do to cool the house down and things you guys do solely to aid in efficiency.
My plans this year are to do attic foil, seal the attic door better, solar gable fans, and possibly a solar power system, but this is an investment not necessarily for this year.
Note that all of these things have tax credits benefits also.
Jump to the one your interested in if you do not want to do the whole read, labeled for ease
Foil
A coworker had mentioned the attic foil from http://www.atticfoil.com/. I was like BS whatever. Then she started showing me before and after power bills. Now although it does not replace insulation they noticed a 12-15% drop in their power bill. So i started researching some online reviews and found a few other people who had done this and apparently it is legit. Worth spending the money on this stuff versus home depot or walmart bought foil also, just for the tear factor while installing. To me that is worth the 300$ and half a day to install.
Attic Door
Sealing the attic door is a pretty simple idea and really easy to do. We did this is my parents house last year and they could feel the differance, it is amazing how much cool air can escape or warm air can intrude.
Gable Solar Fans
Looking at installing two gable solar attic fans also. We already have two traditional wind turbines I feel adding the fans would help also. I am looking at a pair of fans that will move 1750 CFM each and place one on each end of the attic. I think that will be great coverage for removing the warmer air. Again only a 300$ investment.
Our house is directly in the sun no daily shade so that attic gets HOOOTTT already. These three things that will be under a 1,000$ investment I feel could help our situation significantly.
Now speaking of the sun....
Solar System
Now the solar system is a lot bigger project. I have an advantage over you guys in Texas being in Louisiana because here the state pays for HALF of the solar system by a direct reimbursement come at tax time. So we are only paying for 15-20% of these 30-50k solar systems right now. The system I am looking at is a 7.02 KW system. Makes around 12,600 KWH a year which as of right now has us completely zeroed out for the year. I know i know I have done ALL my research talking to my accountant about the tax breaks and power company. For our usage it breaks down to a 4-5 year payout for the whole system then a lifetime(25 Year warranty on all components) of free or almost zeroed power bills. Basically we are such low usage customers anyway we would be building up credits throughout the year to use during the hottest 4 months of the year. Some added benefits we only pay 7k for this system that will power our house due to the tax credits but the value of the system is at 40k. This directly helps the value of your home also. I have called some realtors and they are seeing between 65-75 percent payback on these solar systems added to house value. So although we are only paying 7k, it will add 15-25k when we sell our house in the future. Another added bonus is this larger system compared to a smaller system gives our south facing roof complete shade ALL day! I think that is great by itself.
My plans this year are to do attic foil, seal the attic door better, solar gable fans, and possibly a solar power system, but this is an investment not necessarily for this year.
Note that all of these things have tax credits benefits also.
Jump to the one your interested in if you do not want to do the whole read, labeled for ease
Foil
A coworker had mentioned the attic foil from http://www.atticfoil.com/. I was like BS whatever. Then she started showing me before and after power bills. Now although it does not replace insulation they noticed a 12-15% drop in their power bill. So i started researching some online reviews and found a few other people who had done this and apparently it is legit. Worth spending the money on this stuff versus home depot or walmart bought foil also, just for the tear factor while installing. To me that is worth the 300$ and half a day to install.
Attic Door
Sealing the attic door is a pretty simple idea and really easy to do. We did this is my parents house last year and they could feel the differance, it is amazing how much cool air can escape or warm air can intrude.
Gable Solar Fans
Looking at installing two gable solar attic fans also. We already have two traditional wind turbines I feel adding the fans would help also. I am looking at a pair of fans that will move 1750 CFM each and place one on each end of the attic. I think that will be great coverage for removing the warmer air. Again only a 300$ investment.
Our house is directly in the sun no daily shade so that attic gets HOOOTTT already. These three things that will be under a 1,000$ investment I feel could help our situation significantly.
Now speaking of the sun....
Solar System
Now the solar system is a lot bigger project. I have an advantage over you guys in Texas being in Louisiana because here the state pays for HALF of the solar system by a direct reimbursement come at tax time. So we are only paying for 15-20% of these 30-50k solar systems right now. The system I am looking at is a 7.02 KW system. Makes around 12,600 KWH a year which as of right now has us completely zeroed out for the year. I know i know I have done ALL my research talking to my accountant about the tax breaks and power company. For our usage it breaks down to a 4-5 year payout for the whole system then a lifetime(25 Year warranty on all components) of free or almost zeroed power bills. Basically we are such low usage customers anyway we would be building up credits throughout the year to use during the hottest 4 months of the year. Some added benefits we only pay 7k for this system that will power our house due to the tax credits but the value of the system is at 40k. This directly helps the value of your home also. I have called some realtors and they are seeing between 65-75 percent payback on these solar systems added to house value. So although we are only paying 7k, it will add 15-25k when we sell our house in the future. Another added bonus is this larger system compared to a smaller system gives our south facing roof complete shade ALL day! I think that is great by itself.
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