Home heating costs are expected to rise anywhere from 30 to 70 percent this winter. Check out these tips from the Tribune for insulating your home and conserving energy resources all around. They also provide a nice checklist of things you can do to make sure your home is safe when you start using those gas furnaces and fireplaces full time.
Archive for December, 2005
Bracing for winter
Monday, December 5th, 2005High-end market not going anywhere
Monday, December 5th, 2005The high-end of the new home market shows no signs of slowing amidst a general downturn in the rest of the real estate market. The number of new homes over $500,000 has tripled since 2000, which may explain why the government’s new threshold for non-conforming jumbo loans will jump to $417,000 in January.
Get rust off the railing
Friday, December 2nd, 2005Rusty porch and patio railings are annoying but inevitable. You can clean it up with a little elbow grease though. Use a wire brush or chemical rust remover to remove the rust down to the metal surface, then prime the railing with a zinc oxide or red oxide primer before repainting.
Gov. Rod wants to refund your gas bills
Thursday, December 1st, 2005Illinois Gov. Blagojevich wants the Illinois Commerce Commission to demand that People’s Gas refund its customers $118 million, as recommended by the ICC two months ago. The refund is part of a settlement over alleged overcharging by People’s Gas in the winter of 2000-2001. The refund would come out to about $118 per customer, though the city thinks they should get more. They originally demanded $325.5 million, while People’s Gas only offered $5 million before arbitration. The refund may be long coming though, because the ICC lacks a chairman and one of its other commissioners has recused herself from the case. If the panel doesn’t enforce the refund, People’s Gas says they will appeal the decision to a circuit court.
