Home Buyers Beware: Is That House a Lemon?

If your searching for a new home, chances are you will have a home inspection before closing on the property. Most professional home inspections will identify structural issues and components in need of replacement. But, how can you tell if that stylish home is an energy hog, comfort nightmare or health hazard? Better call a certified Building Analyst for a home performance assessment.

Alabama is blessed with low utility rates, but monthly utility bills can be a staggering $500 a month or more. You’ve calculated what your mortgage will cost, but high monthly utility bills could put your finances underwater.

Here are some essential questions to answer when shopping for a new or used home so you don’t get stuck with a lemon that could break your bank.

1. Will the indoor environment meet your expectations for comfort, safety and affordability?
2. What is the total cost of ownership?
3. How big are monthly electric, gas and water bills?
4. Is the heating and cooling system working properly?
5. Will you be stuck with a costly heating, cooling repair or replacement?
6. Are there indoor air quality and health issues like carbon monoxide or mold?

You can get a rough answer to these questions during your initial walk-through. For a detailed report and energy cost analysis, you’ll need help from a certified Building Analyst. AlabamaWISE home performance contractors are experts at analyzing home performance for comfort, safety and energy savings. Here are factors to help you identify which are likely to have the highest and lowest monthly utility expenses.

A home’s monthly operational cost has 5 main factors:

1. The Weather
2. Location
3. Utility Rates
4. The construction of the building and installed equipment
5. The occupant behaviors and operation and maintenance of the installed equipment

You can’t do anything about the Weather, except to change location. The 2009 energy conservation code says Alabama is entirely in Climate Zone 3, a humid-mixed-heating/cooling climate. Only Mobile is considered humid-hot cooling dominated climate, called Climate Zone 2.

Location: Homes shaded during summer months by trees like oak and maple will save on air conditioning cost. In the winter when the trees have lost their leaves, the sun will warm the home and reduce daytime heating costs, especially if there are south-facing windows. Also, you will save big money on monthly gas expenses by living close to work, shopping and schools.

Utility Rates vary by provider and fuel type. Natural gas is cheap right now because of plentiful domestic supplies. A home with a gas-fired tankless water heater, gas dryer and gas heat will cost much less than the same home that is all electric. Electric rates will vary by provider, but probably not enough to change where you’re looking for a home.

The biggest factors in your monthly utility bills are the last two – The construction of the building and operation and maintenance.

Operation and Maintenance has a huge impact on your monthly utility bills, so if you already own a home, you can cut your monthly expenses by managing the heating and cooling temperature set-points, annual HVAC tune-ups, and upgrading equipment and appliances with high-efficiency systems. Utility rebates and the AlabamaWISE loan program are available to help make energy savings affordable.

Building Construction details are the most critical elements to identify which home can achieve the lowest utility bills. Think of this as a Miles-Per-Gallon comparison when shopping for a car. Is the home you are considering a Prius, a V-6 Sedan, or an SUV with V-8 engine? Just like cars, the newer ones are more efficient, but while cars are getting smaller, newer homes are two to three times larger than homes built in the 1950s and 60s.

Comparing homes to see which are likely to waste energy will inform your home purchase and could save you thousands of dollars over just a few years. You can visit the AlabamaWISE Score page and use the TVA Energy Savvy tool to calculate how much energy and money the home is wasting. This handy widget takes about 10 minutes.

If you own a home, participating AlabamaWISE contractors can do a comprehensive home performance evaluation to identify improvements that save money and increase comfort. This is a detailed assessment of all energy related components. The assessor will create a detailed report on the home, where improvements should be made and the potential energy-cost savings.