Tribune News - February 2007
QUESTION: I just read in our local newspaper here in Portland, Ore., that the real estate Multiple Listing Service is going to start including information on energy-efficient features in their listings. I've long been an advocate of saving energy and wonder if you think this means that energy costs are finally getting accepted as important to homeowners.
ANSWER: This sounds like a great step forward, and one more example of how people are realizing that we can indeed control our own energy costs. When most people look for a new car, for example, they ask about the estimated gas mileage since they know ownership of a vehicle includes significant costs for keeping it running as well as buying it. More and more people are finally getting the same message about their home, especially as rising energy costs in recent years have brought monthly energy bills to levels approaching what they're paying for their mortgages.
I enjoyed reading so many articles and letters to the editor before the recent elections from people who were sure that falling gas prices were just one more indication that politicians and big business set our energy costs. In reality, world oil prices are set by the OPEC countries, not our country's politicians. Yet it looks like many people are convinced that our politicians can just pass laws or regulations that will save us energy if they want to.
The real answer to energy costs can be seen in the real estate listings you wrote about or in the growth of the energy inspection and auditing industries or in the number of energy-saving products you see on the shelves in building supply stores. You have the power and the ability to control your own energy costs.
When buying an existing home, check out the energy features and ask to see the energy costs the current occupants have. When building a new home, insist that the builder incorporate energy-saving features (features that can be paid for as part of the mortgage payment so you don't even notice them, and savings you'll start getting from the first day you move in).
Or just go through your current home and start identifying ways you can lower your energy costs now. You can replace incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescents, make sure you have enough attic insulation, set your thermostat to the most efficient levels, seal the cracks and holes in the walls, use drapes and blinds to keep the sun out when you don't want it or in when you do, or literally dozens of other things that are low-cost or even no-cost that you can do yourself.
