Save Energy Around the Home

With summer in full swing here in the Tampa Bay Area, we are sure many of you may be thinking How do I lower my energy bills? Having the AC running nearly round the clock can be costly. So we wanted to share with you some ideas to cut those energy related bills, that you may not have thought of before.

Save Energy Around the Home

Cindy and I live in the area that they call New Tampa, we have Tampa Electric or TECO, The coolest thing is that they offer a FREE Energy Audit. And unlike when you call a company and then they come out, they try to sell you their products.

TECO does an audit of your home and gives you suggestions on how to reduce you energy bills. The best part is that they have partnership with companies that can complete the work for you. And it is at a reduced price.

TECO issues coupons to be used in conjunction with the work that will save you a ton of money. A good example was when they came to our house, which was built in 1990. The insulation R-Value was R-16, and today the R-Value is R-30, so we received a coupon that allowed us to have an insulation company come in and blow in insulation into our attic that increased the R-Value to R-30 and it cost us $125.00.

Yes only $125.00, this is just one way that having an energy audit assisted us. But that is not the only way you can cut down on your utilities on a monthly basis.

Please be careful, we had a company come through our neighborhood, attempting to sell equipment that you could get tax breaks. One item in particular we want to share with you, because it is a great way to save on your bills, but not for the reason you may think.

An ATTIC Vent fan. The Representative who was walking through our neighborhood, explained to me that normally in the summertime the attic can get up to 120-130 degrees and by installing the solar powered attic vent fan, we would be saving energy and since the fan would keep the temperature in the attic at 85 degrees it would cut down on our electric bill because since the duct work is in the attic and the temperature is cooler that the AC would be cooler and cool our house more efficiently.

The only problem was he was trying to sell this vent fan at a special price if we purchased it that day. Normally it would have been $3,500 installed, but if we signed and paid that day he could give it to us at the special price (including our military discounted price) for only $2,400.

An $1,100 savings, sounds good right? Luckily Cindy was on to him, and went into our home office and looked up this attic fan, came back out and said we would like to think about it, since it was not just a couple of bucks.

So she brought me back into the office, showed me the exact same attic vent fan (same make and model) being sold at Lowes for $450.00 and installed it would be $700.00.

So this company was looking to initially make 500% profit, but cut 200% if we signed that day and giving us the military discount. But failed to mention he was still making a 300% profit on the actual cost of the attic fan.

So please be Leary or check out the product that seems to good to be true. We spoke with the REP from TECO and he dispelled the theory of cooler attic means AC cools quicker, he did say that it would not be a totally bad idea to get one, but more so just for comfort if we spent a lot of time in our attic. Which if you are like us the answer is nope.

We have included download option for you so you can take a look at the ways to Save Energy Around the Home  to make it easy for you to cut those utility bills.  

Currently renting or need a new home for a growing family? Nick & Cindy Davis with RE/MAX Premier Group are here to assist you. We are always a just a click here away or:

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