Let's be honest. Most young professionals don't have the kind of money to custom-build a house from the ground up, using all eco-friendly materials and methods. And many of the prebuilt greener homes are in the higher price ranges. But that doesn't mean you have to give up your plan to make your house "green."
Scott Johnston of Johnston Design Group — the architect for The Cliffs Cottage at Furman University — uses a list of 10 things to do to make an existing home more earth friendly. "The way we prioritize that list is based on wellness, energy conservation and ecology," he says. "The other part of it is, what are the easiest things to do first at the lowest cost with the best payback?"
The first thing he suggests is to have your heating and air conditioning ductwork inspected, sealed and cleaned. The Environmental Protection Agency conducted a study a few years ago and found 30 percent of energy used to run the heating and air conditioning is lost through leaks in the ductwork, Johnston says. "Your heating and air is about 40 percent of your total energy you use, so if you had tight ductwork, your home would be over 10 percent more energy efficient," he says.
Perhaps one of the most obvious and easiest ways to "greenify" your home is by using energy efficient fluorescent light bulbs. They're easy to find and don't cost very much, he says. Next, consider your house's insulation. By installing a radiant heat barrier in the attic (same material as a foil Mylar blanket), your attic will be 20 to 30 degrees cooler, making it easier to cool your house in the summer, Johnston says.
Most people probably don't realize how much energy it takes to heat their water. Solar thermal water heaters can knock another 10 percent off your power bill, although you'll be paying a pretty hefty price (a few thousand dollars) up front for installation. But when you take into account the tax credit you'll get for installing it, you make up the cost in savings fairly quickly, he says.
This may seem like a no-brainer of a greening tip, but when it's time to replace your HVAC unit, make sure you get the most efficient unit possible. And as your dishwasher and appliances deteriorate, replace them with Energy Star energy-saving appliances. Also, installing water-efficient appliances and fixtures will save you money as well.
The final way to make your home energy efficient is to install a rainwater collection system, which would typically be done in the form of a rain barrel. Johnston says an EPA study showed in an average home, people used up to 30 percent of their water on irrigating their lawn. So if you used recycled rainwater, you'd essentially be saving up to 30 percent on your water bill.
Tax credits for going green
You can get two types of tax credits for greening up your home: renewable energy and energy conservation.
"Energy conservation tax credits ... cover things like adding insulation or radiant heat barriers or upgrading your heating and air conditioning," Johnston says.
Renewable energy includes things like solar water heaters. And with renewable energy, you can get both federal and state tax credits, says David Odell, South Carolina business development director for Southern Energy.
The 30 percent federal tax credit has no limit. The 25 percent state tax credit has a $35,000 limit, with $3,500 being the most you can receive each year.
"What that means is if you bought a $20,000 system, you're going to get $5,000 back – $3,500 the first year, $1,500 the next," Odell says. "So on a typical solar hot water system that might cost $6,500, you're going to get about half of your money back after the first year.
"It works just like a state tax refund."
He recommends the Web site www.dsireusa.org for a list of the federal and state tax credits.
And going green with your house doesn't just save you money through tax credits. Through the program PaCE (Palmetto Clean Energy), you can install a solar electric system on your roof and sell the energy you saved and stored back to the power company.
So you'd have two meters on your house — one that records the power you use, and one that records the power you make. Then you'll get your normal power bill, plus the credit from the power you generated, Odell says.
So if you make more energy than you use, the power company actually pays you.
Ways to spend $8,000
Getting $8,000 back on your taxes for being a first-time homebuyer? You could do the sensible thing and use that money to pay down or pay off your other debts. Or you could use it to buy some furniture to fill your new home. Here are just a few ways you could spend your eight Gs. After all, aren't tax breaks supposed to stimulate the economy?
1. An average cup of java is around $2. You can treat yourself to a cup of joe from a local coffee shop for the next 4,000 days. That's almost the next 11 years, give or take a few leap days.
2. Turn your basement into a game room by putting in a pool table ($1,000-$3,500) and a pinball machine. You can get a used pinball machine for between $1,700-$7,700 from Pinballmachinesales.com. Any money left over can be put toward old-school arcade games. "Ms. Pacman" goes for around $1,500 or you could get other groundbreaking games like "Mortal Kombat 2" for $1,600 on sites like eBay.
3. If you'd rather have 21st century games in your mancave, you could get a state-of-the-art plasma TV (a 50-inch Philips 50PF9630A/37 is about $3,000), an Xbox 360 ($300), a PS3 ($400) and a Wii ($250). That leaves you with $4,050 for games and accessories. Maybe you could throw in a pair of Pyramat S5000W Wireless Sound Rocker Game Chairs for about $150 each. You'll surface only for more Mountain Dew and Cheetos.
4.1,600 Hot-n-Ready carryout pizzas from Little Caesars.
5. Bugged about your bust size? Surgically enhanced breasts can be yours for $5,000-$8,000. That's the average cost nationwide for new boobs. And guys, why go through all the trouble of bench pressing your way to a sexy chest? Take the easy route and drop $7,000 on pectoral implants.
6. You may not be able to shoot like a professional photographer, but you can have them all drooling by carrying around a D3x SLR Digital Camera (camera body) with 24.5 megapixel resolution and 3" super-density LCD monitor for $7,999.95. bhphotosvideo.com.
7. 8,988 chicken soft tacos from Taco Bell.
8. Buy a used car. At cars.com you can purchase a 2004 Ford Mustang, 2002 Toyota Camry LE, 2000 Ford Explorer XLT or a 2003 Chevrolet S-10 for $8,000. (Cars subject to change, but you get the point.)
9. 1,000 dozens of doughnuts from Dunkin Donuts.
10. 2,000 12-packs of Diet Coke.
11. You've got the house, now get the girl. Say "I Do" with a diamond. Tiffany offers .5-1 carat diamond engagement rings from $4,000-$8,500. Of course it doesn't have to be from a blue box. Locally you can buy a three-stone platinum ring for around $7,000 at Skatell's.
12. 1,230 12-pack rolls of toilet paper.
13. Treat 8,000 of your closest friends to a draft beer on July 9 during the next $1 draft night during the Greenville Drive game.
14. Adopt about 100 adult dogs or 134 adult cats from the humane society.
15. 3,319 (and a half) gallons of gas at $2.41
16. 8,080 songs downloaded from iTunes.
17. So you have always wanted to become a gourmet chef. You've got the cookbooks, now you need to update your kitchen. A Viking 36-inch 6 burner stainless steel gas stove ($6,400); 14-piece All-Clad cookware set ($1,000); KitchenAid 5-quart stand mixer, ($300) and J.A. Wusthof 8-piece cutlery set ($300.)
18. 250 cases of Sierra Nevada at Tony's on Augusta Road. Or go cheap and get 920 12-packs of Bud Light.
19. 4,210 jars of peanut butter.
20. Buy four tickets to Super Bowl XLIV. The game is on Feb. 7, 2010, at Land Shark Stadium in Miami. Tickets are about $2,000 apiece for upper-end seats. Better tickets go for $3,000 and up. www.stubhub.com.
21. 842 movie tickets.
22. Carrie on "Sex and the City" had $40,000 worth of shoes. Kind of makes spending $8,000 on shoes and purses seem paltry. (Yeah, right.) Here're two pairs of shoes and four purses that will leave you $5 to spare. How about a latte? Manola Blahnik Cage Boot, $1,165, Neiman Marcus; Burberry Check Hobo, $995, Neiman Marcus; Badgley Mischka East-West Fold-Over Clutch, $695, Saks Fifth Avenue; Dolce & Gabbana Miss Dalia Flap Bag, $1,795, Saks Fifth Avenue, Prada Classic Nappa Tote, $2,250, Saks Fifth Avenue; and Jimmy Choo Blaze Studded Sandals $895, Saks Fifth Avenue.
23. Toss that keg you use for a night stand and fill your new home with furniture. Eight grand will fill several rooms of your new home with furniture, depending on where you shop.
