Andrew Rook

After the Southern California power crisis of 2000-2001, as well as the current price of gas, don’t you wish there was something you could do to decrease your utility bills? There is, and many of them don’t take much time, effort, or money.

• Replace incandescent light bulbs with fluorescent bulbs. Fluorescent bulbs cost more initially but last a lot longer.
• Make sure your doors and windows fit tightly and have weather stripping, including the door to the garage.
• Fix faucet leaks, especially hot water leaks, and if the leak is streaming instead of dripping.
• Lower the thermostats on your water heater and on your heating and cooling system—For every degree you lower it, you can decrease your heating bill by about 2%. Don’t lower your water heater below the manufacturer’s recommended setting, though, typically marked on the thermostat.
• Have a home energy audit done every couple of years. Many utility companies do these free. With the audit in hand, you’ll know exactly what you can do to save money on your utility bills.
• Check your air filter monthly and clean or replace it if it is dirty. Dirty filters cause your heating and cooling system to work overtime, thereby wasting energy.
• Install landscaping that does more than just look good. The right mix of trees and shrubs can lower your utility bills by blocking winter winds or summer sun. Check with your local nursery for guidance on selecting appropriate vegetation.
• If you’re buying a new appliance, look for the “Energy Star,” which indicates that the appliance meets standards set by the U.S. Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency.
• Proper roofing material and adequate insulation (don’t forget the attic) are essential to saving money. While building codes typically dictate the minimum amount of insulation, a home owner replacing a roof may choose a roof based on looks rather than energy efficiency. A study by Florida Power & Light proves what Southerners have known for generations: light-colored roofs do the best job of reflecting the sun. The study showed that the best type of roofing material for Sunbelt homes is white, galvanized metal. It actually came in a very close second to cement tile roofing in its ability to reflect the sun's heat, but won overall because of its “superior ability to cool quickly at night.”

Whether the energy-saving changes you’re prepared to make are big-ticket items (such as a roof, central heating and cooling, or an appliance), or inexpensive items such as changing light bulbs or getting a room heating or cooling system, be sure to check with your utility company for rebates. You might be surprised to see how rewarding energy efficiency can be in terms of savings and in terms of rebates from your utility company.

Our climate can play havoc with your roof. Here’s what happens: When the lumber was ordered for your house, it was what we call “green lumber,” having a typical moisture content of 20% or higher. The natural drying process as the house was being built typically causes the moisture content to fall to between 7% and 10%. Now that construction is finished, the house suffers through periods of sunshine and rain. During the hot, dry months, the moisture content can fall to between 1% and 3%, causing shrinkage gaps between the various wood components. At the same time, the flashing sealant on the roof is drying out, becoming brittle, and cracking. Now the rains come. Leaks everywhere! The roof and flashing on your house can fail at any time.

Here’s how to protect your investment without spending a lot of money and without waiting until thousands of dollars worth of damage occur to the interior because of a roof leak. Put in your annual home maintenance budget a couple of hundred dollars or so for a roofing contractor. Every October when you set your clocks back (or any other easily remembered day in the Fall, but definitely before the winter), pay a qualified roofing contractor to come out and examine your roof and give it the A-OK (some roofing contractors may also provide warranties against leaks for a year or two).

Now you should make it through the winter with no problems. And come on, a couple of hundred dollars or so in preventive maintenance for the roof is much, much better than waiting until it leaks and going through the anguish of major damage to the interior and to your furniture, books, pictures, photographs, and other priceless mementos of you and your family (like your wedding album and your children’s baby pictures).

Your roof covering will last a long time in our climate if you’ll do three things: make sure your attic (1) has adequate ventilation (e.g., any combination of gable, soffit, static, turbine, and ridge vents; and attic fans), (2) has adequate insulation, and (3) then give a roofing contractor a couple of hundred bucks or so each year, or toward the end of whatever warranty period the roofing contractor provides you, to inspect your roof and flashing.

I'm often asked when it's time to call a home inspector. Since you're asking the question, then that's the first sign that you may need an inspector.

In certain cases, it just makes good sense to call a professional home inspector. For instance, I was recently asked to help solve a problem with a water leak. The house was located on the Jersey shore and every spring just as it was getting hot, a water stain would develop on the kitchen ceiling. I was called in after numerous contractors had charged hundreds of dollars to "repair" the leak. The general contractor replaced the window and flashing around the window in the bathroom over the kitchen. The plumber had replaced the internal components (guts) of the bathtub faucet and water supply lines. The second plumber replaced the bathtub drain pipe and repaired the loose toilet. The roofer had quoted some thousands of dollars to tear off and replace the 5-year old conventional shingle roof.

At the point I was called, the homeowner was understandable quite frustrated. All of these professionals had "found" and repaired the source of the problem, yet the stain on the kitchen ceiling continued. Before they re-shingled the roof, they decided to have a professional home inspector come and inspect the house. After careful inspection of the house, it was noted that the air handler for the air conditioner was in the attic and a tear in the insulation around the suction line caused condensation to develop when the unit was turned on. The small amount of condensation was dripping and showed up two floors down on the kitchen ceiling. An $8 new insulation pipe wrap solved the problem much to the homeowners delight.

I recently bumped into the homeowner and I inquired about the kitchen ceiling. They had repainted and the leak had disappeared. They couldn't stop thanking me.

If you are in doubt, give us a call. Phone consultations are free and we're happy to discuss your problem and what we think will help solve it.