Chitownproperty

You may not want to think about it yet, but winter is coming, along with all the ways it can wreak havoc on your home. These 10 tips for winterizing your home show you easy ways to protect your house from the cold and save money from both utilities and costly repairs.

Maybe you didn’t even realize you could do this, but almost all furnaces have an adjustable humidifier that you can set according to the indoor temperature to make things more comfortable, and maybe even cut down on those nasty winter static shocks. Some models just let you control the amount of water going into the humidifier, but many allow you set a precise temperature. At WGN’s Weather Blog, Tom Skilling says a proper setting is about half the indoor temperature (i.e. 35 for a thermostat set at 70 degrees F), though most people find that 35 to 40 percent is comfortable. Levels higher than 60 percent can cause condensationon on windows.

Continuing our theme of energy-saving measures, here are two stories from the Sun-Times about upgrading two major appliances, your furnace and dishwasher, to newer, more efficient models that could save you a bundle on your gas, electricity, and water bills this year.

Despite valiant attempts by the Illinois House of Representatives to reinstate the freeze on electricity rates from ComEd, Chicagoans should be bracing for at least a 25 percent hike in their bills this month. The House passed a measure to freeze ComEd’s rates another three years, after the utility company held an auction late last year to set the price for electricity after a previous 10-year ban expired. But the bill still needs to pass the Senate, where it faces stiff opposition and isn’t likely to even come to a vote.

One widespread suggestion to help homeowner save on energy is to replace standard incandescent light bulbs with new, more efficient compact fluorescent bulbs. Compact fluorscents are those funky corkscrew-shaped bulbs, but despite their strange looks, they use 75 percent less energy, can last up to 10 years, and on average save you $30 over the life of the bulb.

These new bulbs are pricey–they cost around $5 each–but it’s the right thing to do, both to save you money and do your share to conserve energy. Matt has been on a mission to replace all the bulbs in his and Debbie’s townhome, and we wanted to share some of the results:

• Not all compact fluorescent bulbs can be used with a dimmer, so if you want to do this, make sure you buy ones that specifically say they are dimmable. The standard bulbs will buzz and flicker unless the dimmer is set at the highest level, which of course defeats the whole purpose.
• Compact fluorescents come in a variety of shapes and sizes, including globes and floodlight/can style bulbs, so if you aren’t wild about that corkscrew shape, shop around for your tastes.
• Test out one bulb before you buy for the whole house. Fluorescent lights normally give off a more white, sterile light like what we expect in offices and retail stores, and cheaper brands of the compact bulbs don’t improve this much. Spend some money on the name brands. Matt found that GE bulbs have a nice, yellow glow that is indistinguishable from incandescents.
• The compact fluorescents are larger than incandescent bulbs, so they may not fit in tight spaces like lamps, ceiling fans, closet lights, etc. Again, test one or two first. Concentrate on putting new bulbs in your high traffic areas because you probably won’t be able to fit them everywhere.
• Finally, compact flourescents don’t light up immediately when you flip the switch, and may need to warm up a few minutes before they hit full strength. This takes some getting used to, but if you use the right wattage, you’ll never notice the difference.

Editor’s note: This post was my daily entry today at Chicagoist. I’m not normally this lazy, but I cross-posted it here because it seemed especially relevant to our clients

Still waiting for that $100 refund from Peoples Energy? Yeah, so are we. And it seems that we’ll be waiting a little longer while they haggle with the Illinois Commerce Commission over the wording of the settlement in which they agree to reimburse natural gas customers $100 million, or $100 each, for allegedly overcharging them between 2000 and 2004.

The ICC was expected to finalize the settlement yesterday, but Peoples Energy balked at a final change to the wording that indicated they had acted “imprudently.” The Sun-Times reports that Peoples Energy filed a statement with the ICC saying they, “have not and do not admit any wrongdoing or liabilities in the settlement.” And here’s $100 million to remember that too, because we always hand out nine-figure settlements when we don’t do anything wrong. Once Peoples Energy is finished passing the buck, it will take up to 30 days to begin crediting customer bills with refunds.

Of course, they might be a little testy with the ICC because they just nicked them for $500,000 for failing to comply with gas meter inspection regulations. State and federal law requires that gas companies inspect meters for leaks on a regular basis, but over the past five years Peoples Gas has only checked only 25 percent of its quota. Of course, that’s not their fault either: they blame residential customers who aren’t home or ignore requests to let inspectors in.

A quick rundown of this past weekend’s local real estate news sections:

• Ever wonder how builders can work through all that snow? Contractors don’t slow down during winter months, but they do have to take special precautions to make sure concrete and masonry cures properly.
• The cost of living in college dorms has risen so high that some students have been finding ways to apply for government-subsidized housing intended for low income families. But starting next week, new rules passed by Congress will take the student’s parents’ income into consideration in most cases, even if the student claims to be living independently.
• Home heating retailers say sales of wood-burning stoves are up anywhere from 30 to 50 percent this season as people search for lower-cost heating and cooking alternatives to gas.
• Maybe you can’t afford the dream of living off the grid in one fell swoop, but you can start using enough solar power to make a difference, little by little.
• Rising interest rates are starting to squeeze homeowners with adjustable rate mortgages, no longer able to bail themselves out by refinancing their home based on double-digit price appreciation.
• Having trouble choosing cabinet finishes? Check out this guide to new cabinet options.
• More buyers are making offers with home sale contingencies, citing longer market times as reason to safeguard their position before committing to a new home. In a hot market, submitting an offer contingent upon selling an existing home would weaken a buyer’s negotiating position, because other buyers would likely be willing to make an offer with no such restrictions. But as the market cools, more people are willing to take this risk in order to make sure they have the proceeds from the sale of their home in hand for a downpayment.

After months of warnings that energy bills this winter will skyrocket, make puppies cry, and eat your children, People’s Gas has agreed to refund $100 million to customers in Chicago and the North Shore. The settlement is the result of People’s shady dealings with Enron in 1999. The company is not supposed to profit from selling natural gas, but in just 18 months after the deal People’s and Enron split a $23 million profit from their joint venture.

$100 million sounds like a pretty big number, but it only translates into $50 per person this year and another $50 next year. Anything helps though. This December’s average gas bill was $360, 50 percent higher than 2004. Any horror stories out there? What’s been your highest bill?

AKA, Don’t Let That Space Heater Burn the House Down

Were those predictions about massive winter heating bills premature? This winter has been on the warm side, but gas prices are so much higher this year, you should still budget for a hefty increase.

The most simple solution to keeping your heating bills down this winter is to turn the thermostat down. You may not like keeping the house a little chilly while you’re home, but at least turn it down a few degrees when you aren’t. A high-tech way to do this is to install a programmable thermostat that can change the temperature on a schedule. Such units go for anywhere from $35 to $350.

Applications for government help in paying heating bills this winter are up by over 41 percent this year. A total of 236,131 Illinois residents have applied for Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program grants, 128,190 of those coming from Cook County alone. The state has been more aggessive this year in getting the word out about the grants.

Using solar panels to heat your home may seem like a bizarre concept in Chicago when it’s zero degrees outside, but as long as there is enough sun to make a shadow, you can collect solar heat. Solar panels installed on the roof of a bungalow, townhouse, or two-flat can cut water heating costs by 70 percent, and home heating costs by 40 percent. A solar system for heating your water and home can cost $8,000-16,000, but the government also offers rebates and tax credits for installing solar panels. Plus, over time, that investment generates savings as energy costs inevitably rise.

Most appliances today suck power even when they’re turned off. As long as they’re plugged in, the On/Off switch might as well be called “Idling.”

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.

Illinois 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.