This is a common question for folks that are considering all their options in the housing market. They talk with Tampa home builders about new homes while they look at the existing homes that are listed for sale. At some point, usually when initial purchase prices are comparable, the thought turns to the ongoing costs of each option. We’ve discussed how home insurance is typically less expensive on new homes, but lets discuss how a new home's energy efficiency impacts your monthly utility bills.
The bottom line is that new homes take advantage of new building materials, products and processes that weren’t available when homes were built 5, 20 or 50 years ago. Here are a few items that we use at Javic Homes that support this fact:
- AC Systems: New homes in Tampa are required to install systems with a SEER (or energy rating) of at least a 13. Our standard at Javic Homes is a 14+. Yes, higher is better. The standard for homes built in the 1980s was an 8. It’s likely many older systems have been replaced, but even those systems have become less efficient over time.
- Appliances: Many existing homes didn’t have the option of efficient EnergyStar appliances like the new homes of today. These appliances save significant, electricity, gas and water compared to older appliances.
- Insulation: When we renovate homes in Tampa, it’s not uncommon for us to open up walls and find no insulation. Today’s new homes use a variety of insulation types in the attics and walls, which make them significantly more energy efficient. For example, block exterior walls on the homes we build use a system of injected foam in the hollow areas of the walls with a foil radiant barrier to reflect heat. This is a new process that didn’t even exist until recently.
- Irrigation Systems: Today’s existing homes are designed to save water. Irrigation systems use drip lines around shrubs to get just the water that’s need to those areas. Additionally, rain sensors let the systems know when it has rained recently and no watering is required.
- Water Heater: Most existing homes utilize traditional water heater tanks that are always heating water whether you need it or not. The new homes that we build utilize tankless water heaters which only heat water as it is needed, which are significantly more efficient.
- Windows: Look at homes that were built just 5 years ago and likely you’ll find windows with single panes of glass. Today’s homes utilize double pane glass with Low-E energy films, which are significantly more energy efficient.
So you see it’s not that existing homes are becoming any less efficient, it’s that today’s new homes have simply leap-frogged them in this area. It’s something that has happened for years and I believe we can expect it to continue in future new homes. Just something to keep in mind when you consider existing homes vs. new homes.
Jon Solomon
Website: http://www.javichomes.com/
Blog: http://javichomes.wordpress.com/
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