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Grilling Safely

Grilling Safely

by | Nov 6, 2014 | Homeownership

By: Deirdre Sullivan

Published: June 29, 2012

Nothing spoils an outdoor barbecue more than burning the house down. Here are 6 tips to stay safe when grilling this summer, plus videos of cookout calamities.

Don’t think you’re at risk? Over the last five years, fire departments have responded to an average of 8,200 house fires per year involving grills, hibachis, and barbecues. Most of these fires took place during June and July, the peak grilling months.

Tip 1: Barbecue only outside

Firing it up in your home, trailer, tent, or any partially enclosed area is dangerous. If the carbon monoxide doesn’t kill you, your neighbors might, especially if you set off your building’s sprinkler system by grilling on your covered balcony.

Tip 2: Grills heat up to 650 degrees or higher

Always place your grill or hibachi on a non-flammable surface. For additional protection, place a heat-resistant pad or splatter mat beneath the cooker. And FYI, plastic has an average melting point of 150 degrees.

Tip 3: Protect your home and family

According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, you should barbecue at least 10 feet away from your house or any structure. Children and pets should stay at least 3 feet away from the grilling area.

Tip 4: Lighter fluid can be dangerous

Before starting a fire, soak coals with an accelerant made for charcoal. Never use lighter fluid on hot briquettes. Doing so causes the fluid to vaporize and become explosive. The result could be a charbroiled yard and home.

Tip 5: Proper grilling attire

Take a cue from this grill master: Don’t wear loose or baggy clothing while flipping burgers. This includes aprons, especially when your back is turned.

Tip 6: Utensils are not toys

Of course you want to keep your guests entertained at your next barbecue, but remember, playing with sharp utensils can be dangerous. You could poke an eye out or skewer a feathered friend.

Bonus tip: We ran across one more prickly grilling situation. Who thought a brush could ruin a barbecue? Hints from Heloise says there’s a new danger hidden away in your grill: bristles from wire cleaning brushes. If accidentally consumed, they could cause abdominal pain and more. Make sure that after you clean your grill with a wire brush, rinse the grill and wipe it with a paper towel to make sure no pesky wires are left.

By; © Copyright 2014 NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®

Tax Credits for Solar Water Heaters

Tax Credits for Solar Water Heaters

by | Nov 6, 2014 | Buying, Green Living, Homeownership

By: Donna Fuscaldo

Published: January 24, 2013

A federal tax credit makes energy-efficient solar water heaters a more affordable and sustainable option for many homeowners.

A solar water heater uses the renewable thermal energy produced by the sun to warm water for your shower, washing machine, and dishwasher. Better yet, it does it at a fraction of the price of a conventional storage tank water heater. If you take the plunge and purchase a solar water heater, expect to see your home’s water-heating bill cut in half.

The financial attraction doesn’t end there. A federal energy tax credit that’s available through the end of 2016 allows homeowners to shave 30% off the cost of a solar water heater. Even new homes and second homes qualify.

How solar water heaters work

Solar water heaters operate in one of two ways: either as a direct system or as an indirect system. A direct system warms water by circulating it via pipes through rooftop solar collectors. An indirect system, also known as a closed-loop system, relies on a non-freezing heat transfer liquid.

The liquid is heated in the solar collectors and returns through pipes to a storage tank, where a heat exchanger inside the tank transfers the heat to the water. Most systems rely on electric pumps to move water (or a transfer liquid) between the storage tank and the rooftop solar collectors.

In general, solar water heaters can be used anywhere as long as your roof gets direct sunlight for most of the day. The rooftop collectors should face south. A direct system makes sense in warm climates where temperatures don’t fall below freezing. The non-freezing liquid used in an indirect system makes it better suited for cold climates.

You’ll need to retain your conventional water heater as a back-up at night, on cloudy days, or anytime your family needs more hot water than your system can produce. An average person uses about 15 to 20 gallons of water per day, so a family of four would likely need an 80-gallon water heater tank.

The cost of a solar water heater

A solar water heater starts at around $4,000 including installation, though the price tag could double depending on the size, quality, and complexity of the system. Figure it’ll take two to four days to install.

There’s no cap on the 30% federal tax credit, which applies to systems placed in service between Jan. 1, 2009, and Dec. 31, 2016. Solar water heaters must be certified by the Solar Rating & Certification Corp. to qualify. States may offer additional incentives. Check the Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency (DSIRE).

To earn the federal tax credit, at least half of your household’s energy for water heating must come from the sun. You can only count money spent on the solar water heater, not the entire heating system. You can’t claim the credit if the solar water heater is for a pool or hot tub.

Take the credit on IRS Form 5695 for the year you install the solar water heater. Remember to save receipts and manufacturer certification statements. The credit can’t exceed the total amount you owed in federal taxes for the year.

The savings can add up

According to Energy Star, a federal program that promotes energy efficiency, a solar water heater can lower the average household’s water-heating costs by 50%. For the typical family spending $317 per year to heat water, that translates to savings of about $160 per year.

Savings are greater for large families that use a lot of hot water. How quickly you recoup your total investment depends on how much water you use, the amount of sun you get, the performance of your solar water heater, and how much it costs to heat up your water using your existing system.

The Texas State Energy Commission has an online calculator you can use to estimate how much a solar hot water system would cut from your hot water energy costs.

If you’re building a new home or refinancing your mortgage, consider lumping in the cost of a solar water heater with the loan.

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, you’ll pay an extra $13 to $20 per month to include the cost of a solar water heater in a 30-year mortgage.

Long life, little TLC

Solar water heaters have a life expectancy of 20 years or more, double that of conventional storage tank water heaters. They typically don’t require replacement parts for the first 10 years. It’s prudent to hire a qualified contractor to conduct annual inspections, as you might do with a furnace.

You can do your part by making sure the collector is clean, sealings aren’t cracked, and fasteners connecting the collector to the roof are tight. Whether for installation or maintenance, look for contractors certified by the North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners.

Solar water heaters not only save money—they save the environment. The DOE says a solar water heater can cut the electric load of your water heater by 2,500 kilowatt hours annually, which prevents 4,000 pounds of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere. That’s equal to not driving your car for four months a year.

This article provides general information about tax laws and consequences, but is not intended to be relied upon by readers as tax or legal advice applicable to particular transactions or circumstances. Readers should consult a tax professional for such advice, and are reminded that tax laws may vary by jurisdiction.

By: © Copyright 2014 NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®

9 Ways to Avoid Gobbling Up Energy on Thanksgiving

9 Ways to Avoid Gobbling Up Energy on Thanksgiving

by | Nov 6, 2014 | Green Living, Homeownership

Wasting energy on Thanksgiving? Don’t be a turkey.

By: Courtney Craig

Published: November 12, 2012

A few days before Thanksgiving

1. Install a dimmer switch for the dining room chandelier. Every time you dim a bulb’s brightness by 10%, you’ll double the bulb’s lifespan. Most CFLs don’t work with dimmers, but you can create mood lighting with incandescents and LEDs. The dimmer switch will cost you about $10.

2. Plan side dishes that can cook simultaneously with the turkey. If you cook dishes at the same temperature at the same time, you’ll reduce the amount of time the oven has to be running — it’s easier for the cook and saves energy, too.

When you start cooking

3. Lower your house thermostat a few degrees. The oven will keep the house warm. You also can turn on your ceiling fan so it sucks air up, distributing heat throughout the room.

4. Use ceramic or glass pans — you can turn down the oven’s temp by up to 25 degrees and get the same results. That’s because these materials retain heat so well, they’ll continue cooking food even after being removed from the oven.

5. Use your oven’s convection feature. When heated air is circulated around the food, it reduces the required temperature and cooking time. You’ll cut your energy use by about 20%.

6. Cook in the microwave whenever possible. Ditto slow cookers. Microwaves get the job done quickly, and although slow cookers take much longer, they still use less energy than the oven. Resist the urge to peek inside your slow cooker: Each time you remove the lid, it releases heat and can add about 25 minutes of cooking time to your dish.

7. Use lids on pots to retain heat. The food you’re cooking on the stovetop will heat up faster when you use lids.

When it’s cleanup time

8. Scrape plates instead of rinsing with hot water. Unless food is really caked on there, your dishwasher should get the dishes clean without a pre-rinse. Compost your non-meat food waste. Check out these other Thanksgiving clean-up tips.

9. Use your dishwasher. It saves energy and water, so only hand-wash things that aren’t dishwasher-safe. Wait until you’ve got a full load before starting the dishwasher. Be sure to stop the appliance before the heated dry cycle; just open the door and let your dishes air-dry.

By; © Copyright 2014 NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®

Flood Insurance Rates Going Up? Here’s What to Do

Flood Insurance Rates Going Up? Here’s What to Do

by | Oct 21, 2014 | Homeownership, Insurance

Why Are Rates Going Up?

Two reasons:

1. The Federal Emergency Management Agency is updating its flood maps to be more accurate, which could change your flood risk designation. If your risk is higher, your premiums will go up. If it’s lower, your premiums could go down.

2. Last year, a new law took effect that requires the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) to phase out subsidies for some older properties to reflect the full risk of flooding.

Phasing out the subsidized rates and discounts over the next five years will help the NFIP stay solvent.

Some subsidies have been given in the form of “grandfathering.” A grandfathered rate is a discount given to homes built in compliance with then-existing standards in a flood-mapped community where the flood risk has since increased.

Congress and FEMA are reviewing these properties to determine whether to phase out these grandfathered rates. FEMA won’t make a decision on this until late 2014. By then, Congress could pass a law delaying the increase indefinitely.

Do You Have a Subsidized or Discounted Rate?

Only 20% of NFIP policies are subsidized. Most hom eowners already pay the full rate and won’t see an increase.

If your property isn’t your principal residence, is in a special flood hazard area, and was built before the first flood insurance rate map was implemented for your community, you may be getting a subsidy for being what’s called Pre-FIRM (pre-flood-insurance-rate-map).

TIP: To find out if your home is Pre-FIRM, look up your area in the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA’s) Community Book.

1. Click your state.

2. Look for the date in the “Init FIRM Identified” column for your area.

If your home was built before that date and it’s in a special hazard zone, you probably have subsidized flood insurance.

If Your Premiums Aren’t Subsidized or Discounted It’s possible you still could see a change in your flood insurance premiums if your home is in a community that adopts a revised flood map after July 6, 2012. If that revised flood map puts you in a different zone, your rates could go up or down.

When Will the Rate Changes Take Effect?

If your home is Pre-FIRM and it’s a second home (rental or vacation), you may already have seen your rates change. A 25% increase was implemented for policies renewing after Jan. 1, 2013. Increases will continue each year until they reach full-risk rates.

In October 2013, more subsidized homes will start seeing rate increases of 25% each year:

  • Severe repetitive loss properties
  • Business properties
  • Properties with previous flood claims for more than the market value of the property

If you have a Pre-FIRM home, and it’s your primary home, and it doesn’t fall into the above-mentioned categories, (lucky you!) you get to keep your subsidized rate until:

  • You sell your home.
  • You let your policy lapse.
  • You have severe, repeated flood losses.
  • You buy a new policy.

Can You Get a Better Rate?

You may be able to get a lower flood insurance rate by changing your home’s flood risk. Congress appropriated a large sum of money for property owners to raise their homes onto piers, posts, columns, or pilings. Check with your local community to see if grant money is available to help you do that. Talk to your insurance agent about how elevating your house will change your flood insurance premium.

There’s also a Community Rating System that could reduce flood insurance rates by up to 45%, depending on which flood plain management regulations your community adopts.

Check with your local officials or insurance company to see if your community participates and if you can get a discount for that. If your community doesn’t participate, write a letter to local officials urging them to join the Community Rating System.

Other things you can do to trim your flood insurance premiums:

  • Opt for a higher deductible on your excess insurance policy if you have one.
  • Convince local officials to put more money into community flood mitigation projects to lower your flood risk.

It won’t lower your premium, but having a flood cleanup kit on hand will make your life easier if you do have a flood.

By the way, NFIP is the best deal. Without it, you have to take your chances in a virtually nonexistent private market for flood insurance at rates only the wealthy can afford.

Some of the same companies that provide private flood coverage also sell “excess coverage” flood insurance. Excess coverage pays to rebuild homes valued at more than the NFIP limit of $250,000.

Mistakes in Flood Insurance Premiums

It’s possible the rate you’re quoted for flood insurance is wrong. If you disagree about whether your home is in a particular flood zone or the insurer didn’t take into account the pilings that raise your home 12 feet in the air, you can appeal your home’s flood zone determination.

An elevation certificate from a surveyor or engineer can lower your premium if it proves your home sits above the predicted flood level.

You’ll also want to correct insurer mistakes that lower your premium. For example, if your policy says your home doesn’t have an elevator or crawlspace and it does, tell your agent, even if your premium will rise when those are included. That ensures your property and possessions are fully covered and recoup what you’re owed.

Think the FEMA map itself is wrong? Check with local zoning officials, your builder, prior owners, a local surveyor, and FEMA to see if anyone has filed a Letter of Map Amendment asking for a map review.

If no one has filed, you can do your own appeal.

 

 

Source: By: Dona DeZube; © Copyright 2014 NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®

 

10 Green Improvements for Under $100 Each

10 Green Improvements for Under $100 Each

by | Oct 21, 2014 | Green Living, Homeownership, renovations

1. Seal switches and outlets with insulating foam gaskets.

Believe it or not, your electrical wall outlets and switches are drafty: You lose plenty of indoor air through sockets and switches located on exterior walls of your house. But there’s an ultra-cheap fix for this: Pre-cut insulating foam gaskets sell for less than a buck, and installation is an easy DIY job — all you’ll need is a screwdriver.

Turn off the power to the socket or switch you’ll be working on, then remove the faceplate with the screwdriver. Place the gasket on the inside of the faceplate. Then screw the faceplate back into the socket and voila — energy savings are yours.

 

2. Trim grocery bills with a vegetable garden.

 

Vegetables grown in your own backyard are great for making delicious and healthy meals, but they’ll save money on your grocery bills, too. About $80 worth of seeds and soil will yield almost $250 worth of fresh produce. Tomatoes, cucumbers, green beans, and peppers are especially prolific, yielding plenty of veggies to keep you away from the produce aisle.

Heirloom tomatoes will save you $15-$23 per year over store-bought tomatoes, and the plants cost next to nothing, especially if you start from seeds indoors.

 

3. Seal out drafts with thermally lined drapes.

 

Window coverings are a nice touch of décor, and they’re handy in saving energy, too. Drapes with an insulating thermal layer block icy drafts in the winter and prevent heat loss out windows.

Floor-to-ceiling fabric works best, especially if it folds back against the wall. This keeps drafts trapped behind the curtain instead of seeping into your rooms.

A 52-by-84-inch pair of thermally lined drapes costs less than $70, depending on brand and type of material. And your options aren’t limited — all sorts of colors and patterns are available.

 

4. Stop air leaks with weatherstripping.

Even the most sophisticated, energy-efficient heating and cooling system can’t keep you cozy when air slips through cracks under doors and around windows. Air leaks make your HVAC work harder than necessary to keep your home comfortable. A simple remedy? Seal out drafts with weatherstripping.

  • Bronze weatherstripping is good for windows. It lasts for decades, and is just $16 for 17 feet.
  • Adhesive-backed EPDM rubber is less expensive and will last at least 10 years.
  • Self-stick plastic weatherstripping is the same price and easy to install, but doesn’t last as long.
  • Adhesive-backed foam and felt are good choices for sealing for doors. Door weatherstripping gets a lot of use; if it comes loose, hold it in place with staples.

5. Trim energy use with a programmable thermostat.

It’s nice to be cozy, but why spend the money to keep your house at the perfect temperature when you’re not even home to enjoy it? A programmable thermostat lets you set various temperatures for different times of day. The easy setup can save you as much as $180 per year.

You can install a basic programmable thermostat yourself in less than an hour. You can spend a few hundred dollars, but you’ll find basic models with an LED touchscreen for $80.

 

6. Capture free water with a rain barrel.

It costs about $150 per month to irrigate a 100-by-100-foot lawn in the summertime. So when water falls from the sky for free, why not save it for use later? Rain barrels collect the rainwater that falls off your roof — an inch of rain falling on an average-size roof equals about 500 gallons of water. Rain barrels lower water bills by an average of $35 per month in the summer; plus, you’ll save about 1,300 gallons of water per year.

Commercial barrels cost as low as $50, or you can make one yourself for much less.

 

7. Get free fertilizer from a compost bin.

Food waste, lawn trimmings, dead leaves — they’re not trash, they’re valuable nutrients for your garden. Turn leftovers and yard waste into compost: A rich organic matter that helps plants grow. You’ll keep waste out of landfills; plus, your plants will need less water and fertilizer. Even better: it’s free!

There are a few different ways to start a compost pile — open piles are good for lawn trimmings, while an enclosed bin or tumbler works better for food waste.

The price of compost bins depend on size and type, but there are plenty of models on the market for under $100. This 65-gallon bin is just $60.

By the way, if you’re moving, don’t leave your compost behind; take your compost with you!

 

8. Save water with a dual-flush toilet converter.

Dual-flush toilets cost upwards of $300, but for just over $20, you can install a dual-flush converter that’ll replace the lever on your toilet with a two-button option — little button for liquids, big button for solids. The retrofit will help you save as much as 20 gallons of water per day compared with traditional toilets. Installation is an easy DIY job that’ll take only 20 minutes.

 

9. Outsmart energy loss with a smart power strip.

Even when they’re turned off, appliances can suck energy when they’re plugged in. Standby power consumption robs an average household of about $100 per year in energy costs. Unplug appliances when not in use by flipping the switch on your power strip.
Some devices, such as your DVR, have to stay on all the time to do their job. Smart power strips are the solution — you can unplug your TV when it’s not in use, while leaving the DVR on. Some strips have smart outlets that let you plug in rechargeable devices but automatically power down when the item is charged.

Smart power strips cost between $20 and $40.

 

10. Cool down with a ceiling fan.

In the summer, you can lower the perceived temperature of a room by 8 degrees just by turning on the ceiling fan. It won’t actually cool the room, but the moving air on your skin will make you feel cooler.

Ceiling fans cost barely more than a light bulb to operate, so they won’t be much of a drain on your energy usage, either. While you can pay up to $600 or so for a fan, there are plenty of ceiling fans for under $100.

 

Source: Courtney Craig; © Copyright 2014 NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®

 

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