Green Saves Money

Many people consider going green to be expensive, but Jules DeVigne notes that going green can save you money

Going green is good for the environment and your bank account

When a homeowner is asked about going green, one of the more common responses is that making a home more environmentally friendly is both expensive and a waste of time. The prevailing thought for many years was that an item, such as an energy efficient appliance, would cost far more to purchase than that of any savings realized from using that particular item. This same attitude is carried over to the thought of any home repair or maintenance to make the home more eco-friendly. Yet the reality is that going green can actually save you money and put some cash back into your wallet over the long run.

Let's start by looking at what homeowners spend every year on their basic utilities. The average American household spends roughly $1,900 every year on heating, hot water, and electricity. (1) That's quite a bit of cash, and something that most homeowners think that they can do very little about to change. However, there are ways to make an existing home more energy efficient that will put cash back in your pocket. The first step that any homeowner can do is to put in appliances, such as a tankless water heater. It's estimated that such water heaters are 24-34% more energy efficient than standard storage tank water heaters for homes that use 41 gallons of water per day or less. (2) An important step in figuring out which appliances are right for your home is to contact an experienced building contractor, such as Devigne Developing in Breckenridge, Colorado, who can start guiding you through the process and inform you of all your options.

Building in Snow

Building a home in winter has some challenges, but Jules DeVigne of Devigne Developing says those challenges can be overcome

Proper planning and execution can remove most winter home construction concerns

Having a home built is a significant undertaking at the best of times, but choosing to build a home in the dead of winter makes many people pause with concern. We've all heard of the difficulty when building a home as the snow falls, which has led many owners willing to wait until spring or summer to begin construction. This can be seen by the varying number of one unit housing starts throughout the year. This number of housing starts was 583,000 in January, 2014, while that number jumped to 634,000 in May. (1) While there are quite a few concerns and myths surrounding building during the coldest part of the year, it can be done with very little cause for concern if plans are properly made.

The most obvious factor of winter home construction is dealing with snow. Unless you're lucky enough to live in state that's continually blessed by sunshine, such as Florida, you'll have to deal with snow. However, the amount of snow can vary wildly due to a wide range of factors. In Colorado, Aspen received an average of 178.8 inches of snowfall from 1981 to 2010. Compare that figure to other cities in Colorado, such as Denver (53.8 inches) and Fort Collins (47.2 inches). (2) Knowing what to expect in annual snowfall is an important consideration when figuring out the best plan to build a home, which is why it's crucial that experienced home contractors, such as Devigne Developing in Breckenridge, Colorado, are consulted on the onset of any undertaking.