OT - Best Home Improvement

[bsquared24]

The thread on tankless hot water heaters got me thinking, this board is a great place to find out what are some of the best home improvements. I'm thinking mainly savings (tankless hot water, solar, foam insulation in the attic or under a raised house, etc) type stuff.

Anyone out there seen a worthwhile gain from a home improvement?

 

[Firecaptain4]

A easy one is tinting the windows on your home. They make a copper colored tint that looks great and really helps with cooling.

 

[PBRME]

Solar is #1 on my list. Just not worth the expense in my current house. Hope to be out of it in 2-3 years.

 

[mjh94]

insulation and proper attic ventilation older homes

my house is a ranch style built in '75 (1750 sf). it didn't have any insulation between the ceiling joists to speak of, maybe 3-4 inches of fiberglass (r-10 rating ± existing). i blew in about 4-6 inches of cellulose on top to increase my r-rating to around r-30

i also had no soffit vents or extraction fans in the gable end. added soffit vents and a automatic gable fan.

my energy bill in the summer months went from $200-$250 to around $125-$175. the winter is even better, average around $100/month.

 

[Optimus Prime 4]

This. Luckily the gubmint did it for me for free, but it's made a TREMENDOUS

difference. Since I live near an airport they did it to my whole neighborhood for free, replaced all my old windows with new triple pane windows and doors, and they sprayed insulation everywhere. My heating/cooling costs are roughly half what they were before, and you could cut up a dead hooker with a chainsaw inside and no one in the front yard could hear it.

My house in Memphis I put the solar tints on the skylight windows, and that made a good difference as well.

Aside from savings, I just redid my kitchen, and while expensive, I love it. Having it set up how you like it is invaluable. Everything is where it should be, and it's all stuff I picked out. Then again, I went from a 1952 pink tiled kitchen, with a pink stove and even the insides of the sink were pink. Now I have a fully modern one. I got it appraised for a refi, and the value of the house went up about 90% of what I spent, which isn't bad.

If I had extra cash now, I'd love to get those remote controlled vents that you can turn on in different rooms to open/shut/ and even pull air into a room.

 

[dgsmith15]

If I had extra cash now, I'd love to get those remote controlled vents that you can turn on in different rooms to open/shut/ and even pull air into a room.

Are you talking about dampers in the ductwork?

 

[Optimus Prime 4]

I have no idea what they're called, but they're little devices that sit at the duct, and have fans inside to pull air into the room you want. You can change the speed, the direction (up/down, left/right). So it keeps the room you're in the coolest/warmest. I've had them in hotels. One even followed you around if you had the remote on you. I think I've seen a commercial for them too, but I'm failing with my googling right now.

 

[HopInMyDakPak]

Cheap things you can do
-All LED lights around the house. You will make your money back in probably a year or two depending on how much you use your lights.
-Unplug what your not using (pain in the *** though)
-Set your thermostat and LEAVE IT when you are home. Do not touch it. Buy a thermostat that can change your temperature when your at work (if you work away from home)
-Tint windows

More expensive
-Change windows to double preferably triple pane.
-I'm a big proponent of gas (as I work for an oil company) but I believe that gas appliances are the best to have.
-Rinnai Brand tankless hotwater heaters
-Change all kinds of insulation in the house. I'm a big fan of blown, but its up to you.
-Attic fan - make sure its there and if it is make sure it works.

Most expensive
-Use a water storage/ recycle and cleaning system
-Solar panels


Source: Civil and Environmental Engineer

 

[dgsmith15]

Was it Activent ?

 

[Topgundawg]

Get a home energy evaluation from TVA on your home and they will pay up to

my house is a ranch style built in '75 (1750 sf). it didn't have any insulation between the ceiling joists to speak of, maybe 3-4 inches of fiberglass (r-10 rating ± existing). i blew in about 4-6 inches of cellulose on top to increase my r-rating to around r-30

i also had no soffit vents or extraction fans in the gable end. added soffit vents and a automatic gable fan.

my energy bill in the summer months went from $200-$250 to around $125-$175. the winter is even better, average around $100/month.

$500 getting your home insulated. You have to spend a $1000 and they will give you $500. Adding insulation is great. I don't know about cellulose (recycled paper) but fiberglass works great. Any
is better than none. Just call your electric company!

 

[Optimus Prime 4]

Similar to that, but more "professional". It was a whole system, they were all connected somehow, but that's the gist. During the day I could point all the air to the den, and at night push it all to the bedroom. No need to heat/cool the whole house. Plus it actually blows the air harder, so you can feel a decent breeze if you want. It would probably cut my cooling bill down by 40% at least.

 

[Optimus Prime 4]

Here's the easiest one possible: get a NEST thermostat

Just the ability to change the temperature while in bed or leaving work is worth it, but it's made a major difference in my bill. We had a discussion about it at work for a while, so I wrote an update. I'm too lazy to do it again so I'll just copy and paste it here:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Someone was asking about this the other day, so while paying my bill I checked this out. Here's my power usage the last two months, compared with last year at this time. This is consistent with what I've seen since I installed it, I've cut over half of my power use. Unfortunately my bill hasn't cut in half because there are so many constant fees, in addition to the fact that I believe rates have gone up some. I thought some may like seeing the actual difference. The previous month was high because I had some work done on the house, so there were power tools running a lot.

ELE CT RI C		Current Month	Previous Month	Last Year
Days on Bill	29	32	29
kWh Used	1,382	1,800	2,929
Avg. kWh/Day	47.7	56.3	101.0
Cost per Day	$4.68	$5.34	$8.42

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</tbody>

While the weather may not have been exactly the same, it wasn't too different. And just to show that it's not just a one-month thing, here is when I actually installed it last year. October-ish, so probably the least power usage month of the year.

ELE CT RI C		Current Month	Previous Month	Last Year
Days on Bill	28	32	25
kWh Used	622	2,136	1,602
Avg. kWh/Day	22.2	66.8	64.1
Cost per Day	$2.18	$5.54	$5.45

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</tbody>

So it looks like it's actually been more effective than I thought.

 

[Optimus Prime 4]

do NOT however let them put that whole-house energy saver system in though

at least the ones they use around here, the power company can turn off your stuff at peak times. So 15 minutes every hour, they may turn off your AC. Which sucks when it's 112 out.

I've looked into solar panels (my roof gets direct sunlight all day, every day) but haven't been able to convince myself it's worth it yet. They don't seem to last that long, and lose energy producing capacity every year. And when something goes wrong, the company who sold you a 20 year warranty is no longer in business.

 

[Optimus Prime 4]

Anyone had a tin roof installed? My nextdoor neighbor just did, and I like the idea, but I have no clue about the pros/cons. Or how much it costs. If I need a new roof anyway, is it roughly the same, or a shitload more? I'd dig hearing the rain hit it.

And PBR, I have a friend who sells solar panels. He says wait about five years, then the technology will be worth it.