AUBURN - Realtor Jim Musso said the skyrocketing cost of heating and cooling a home is having a marked effect on the choices people make when looking for a new residence.
Reid Silverman / The Citizen
Sales representative Ted Zalewski of Suburban Energy Services in Auburn, writes down some of the items he'll bring to the booth Saturday, during the opening moments of the Home Expo at Cayuga Community College Friday.
"The first question they ask, after how much the taxes are, is about the utility bills," said Musso, representing Murphy Real Estate at the Home Expo at Cayuga Community College.
Many of the companies represented at the show, which runs through Sunday, are pushing goods and services that can make homes more energy efficient.
Several, including Affordable Energy Concepts of Auburn, New York Homeowners Construction, and Leo A. Kline, both of Syracuse, offer comprehensive home energy audits for $250. The fee, through New York Energy Research and Development Authority's Energy Smart program, can be applied to upgrades the audit suggests.
The audit, said Terry Clough of Affordable Energy Concepts, goes beyond the obvious.
"We look at every appliance, computer, everything," he said. "We identify every high-energy use product."
Some of the audit areas include insulation levels, heating and cooling system efficiencies, air ducts, major appliances, lighting, air infiltration rates, carbon monoxide levels and moisture problems.
If the work is done through a Building Performance Institute-certified contractor and the Energy Star program, NYSERDA offers four different financing options, including grants for income-qualified homeowners.
Mark Castell of New York Homeowners Construction said requested for the audits have increased as energy prices continue to rise. People are looking at making an investment now to save in the long run, because oil, propane, natural gas and electricity aren't expected to get cheaper anytime soon, he said.
"There are so many people who are so much more energy conscious than they were five years ago," said Ken Reohr of Union Springs, whose construction company sells Icynene, a spray-type foam insulation that he touts as being much more efficient than fiberglass.
His distributor, George Hoke, said people are looking less at the cost of improvement and more at how much it will save them and when the improvement will pay for itself. Typically, payback on Icynene is three to five years, although Hoke's son's January 2005 utility bill was 33 percent lower than the bill in January 2004, when the Rochester Victorian had traditional insulation.
Lori Clark, a NYSERDA representative, said there's a push for the audits, but there are easy things people can do on their own to cut utility costs, like using compact fluorescent light bulbs. Replacing two 100-watt incandescent bulbs with CFLs, as they are known, can save $15 a year.
"Most people are out to do simple things, like weather-stripping and caulking," said Tammy Carner of Lowes. "And we've sold a lot of cellular, or honeycomb, window shades. They trap air and act as an insulator."
The shades, which are custom-made and come with a guarantee, look nice, are durable, and can warm a room, both in appearance and temperature, Carner said.
"We've sold a lot of them," she said. "People are picking them over wood blinds."
Staff writer Louise Hoffman Broach can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 238 or louise.hoffman@lee.net
Many of the companies represented at the show, which runs through Sunday, are pushing goods and services that can make homes more energy efficient.
Several, including Affordable Energy Concepts of Auburn, New York Homeowners Construction, and Leo A. Kline, both of Syracuse, offer comprehensive home energy audits for $250. The fee, through New York Energy Research and Development Authority's Energy Smart program, can be applied to upgrades the audit suggests.
The audit, said Terry Clough of Affordable Energy Concepts, goes beyond the obvious.
"We look at every appliance, computer, everything," he said. "We identify every high-energy use product."
Some of the audit areas include insulation levels, heating and cooling system efficiencies, air ducts, major appliances, lighting, air infiltration rates, carbon monoxide levels and moisture problems.
If the work is done through a Building Performance Institute-certified contractor and the Energy Star program, NYSERDA offers four different financing options, including grants for income-qualified homeowners.
Mark Castell of New York Homeowners Construction said requested for the audits have increased as energy prices continue to rise. People are looking at making an investment now to save in the long run, because oil, propane, natural gas and electricity aren't expected to get cheaper anytime soon, he said.
"There are so many people who are so much more energy conscious than they were five years ago," said Ken Reohr of Union Springs, whose construction company sells Icynene, a spray-type foam insulation that he touts as being much more efficient than fiberglass.
His distributor, George Hoke, said people are looking less at the cost of improvement and more at how much it will save them and when the improvement will pay for itself. Typically, payback on Icynene is three to five years, although Hoke's son's January 2005 utility bill was 33 percent lower than the bill in January 2004, when the Rochester Victorian had traditional insulation.
Lori Clark, a NYSERDA representative, said there's a push for the audits, but there are easy things people can do on their own to cut utility costs, like using compact fluorescent light bulbs. Replacing two 100-watt incandescent bulbs with CFLs, as they are known, can save $15 a year.
"Most people are out to do simple things, like weather-stripping and caulking," said Tammy Carner of Lowes. "And we've sold a lot of cellular, or honeycomb, window shades. They trap air and act as an insulator."
The shades, which are custom-made and come with a guarantee, look nice, are durable, and can warm a room, both in appearance and temperature, Carner said.
"We've sold a lot of them," she said. "People are picking them over wood blinds."
Staff writer Louise Hoffman Broach can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 238 or louise.hoffman@lee.net
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