When we first spoke with our realtor about the house, we could hear the excitement in her voice. We had somehow discovered one hell of an opportunity. A foreclosure in rough shape, for sure, but the potential...THE POTENTIAL.
As we drew up the offer paperwork just hours after first laying eyes on the inside of the house, she point-blank said, "If you weren't buying this place, I would be."
The house we bought was only five years old at the time, but through a strange series of events I'll never understand, it had been trashed. But, still, the bones were good. Nearly all of the damage fell under the category of: "We can fix that!"
The first owners had paid $276,000 to have the house built. We paid $183,000. Like I said, ONE HELL OF AN OPPORTUNITY. But with that opportunity came some...baggage. There are a lot of things about the house we don't like.
Number one on that list is the fact that it's too big. Yes, really. The house is too big for us. Need an extra 1000 square feet? Because I have it to give. It sounds like a good problem to have, but have you paid the utilities on 1000 square feet that you don't need? It's delightful. Except, not. At all. The only way we can afford to live in this house is to be smart.
And by "smart," I really mean "green."
In the two years since we moved in, we have:
* Replaced light bulbs with energy efficient CFL bulbs.
* Added a motion sensor to a few strategic outdoor lights so we don't need to leave them on when they aren't needed.
* Installed solar lighting along our sidewalk.
* Purchased an ENERGY STAR compliant refrigerator.
* Frequently replaced the furnace filter because it runs more efficiently when it's not struggling to get air.
* Installed an ENERGY STAR compliant ceiling fan in our loft to help with air circulation.
* Installed WaterSense showerheads.
It's a long list of little things, but it adds up. BIG TIME.
Consider this. Our first home was a townhouse that was built in 1984. It was a whopping 1200 square feet. We had budgeted billing for both electric and gas, meaning we paid the same amount every month. Our gas bill was right around $70 per month (which covered running the furnace and our water heater.) Our electric bill was about $100 per month.
Our current home is around 3500 square feet, plus we have a finished basement. Our average gas bill is $140. Our electric bill averages around $150. We're dealing with nearly three times the space, but our utility bills haven't even doubled. Being green is being smart. That's all there is to it.
Thanks to the helpful folks at The Home Depot, we had a chance to do a little shopping and find our next green upgrade.
You guys. YOU GUYS. Have you ever seen anything as sexy as this?
::swoon::
That gorgeous beast on the right? She's my new best bud. She's a 57-gallon rain barrel which will soon be installed on the side of house and connected to our rain gutters. She going to collect the rain and then give it back to me when I need it to water the garden. No more paying to keep the annuals alive!
Hooray! I am seriously way more excited about this than I probably should be, but I'm pretending my excitement is limited to the fact that our water bill will be reduced next summer. Really I'm just all around excited (she's so sexy!), but money is fun. Especially when I get to keep it. (Psst...my fancy new rain barrel that matches our house happened to be on clearance. Originally she was $149, but right now she's $111. Wahoooooo!)
What about you? What little things have you done to make your home more energy efficient?
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