Home Builders List

If your energy bills are high, you might be inclined to blame your air conditioning system. Keep in mind, however, that other factors of a high home cooling bill are your home’s attic insulation, air, air ducts and air flow.

A home energy usage audit can help to identify excess power usage and help you to cut back.

Don’t be too eager to replace your air conditioning system. The problem may be a leaking air duct, an AC filter that is so thick or dirty doesn’t allow air to move through, or improperly installed attic insulation.

You may take advantage of opportunities offered by you local utility company to foot the majority of your bill for a professional to evaluate any problems in your home causing a waste of energy. Any issues that your AC system to be overworked in order to compensate for inefficiencies can be found and corrected.

An energy audit is used to check your home’s envelope, identifying areas such as gaps in walls, around windows and doors, and cracks that are allowing your cool air to escape. You will be notified of quick fixes that can slash your energy bill. These include installing shade screen to high sun-exposed areas and switching from incandescent lights to more energy-efficient alternatives.

The audit goes so far assessing the potential value of changes in your home. Although a room may be too warm because of a window’s sun exposure, attempting to compensate for this by ramping up the AC is more expensive than simply installing as exterior shade screen; the auditor can tell you if this is the case.

The auditor should provide you with a list of recommendations for your home once he has wrapped up his assessment. The repairs and upgrades are optional, with the most common recommendations being replacing or fixing attic insulation, sealing leaky AC ducts, replacing ductkwork and AC filters.

Houston is the fourth largest city in the U.S, with a city population of about 2.2 million and a metro population of about 5.6 million. It should come as no surprise then, that the area boasts so many Houston homes for sale. The Houston Association of Realtors recently reported that the average home price in the local market gained 2.2 percent in January 2011, reaching its highest-ever level for that month.

Sterling Lakes is a new home community by LGI Homes located in the Houston suburb of Pearland.

Maybe the gain can be attributed to the city’s low cost of living or maybe it is because Houston is a major energy capital, home to many oil and gas companies. Everything is bigger in Texas including big businesses! In fact, Houston is second only to the Big Apple for the number of Fortune 500 companies headquartered within their city limits. The city is also the site of the Texas Medical Center, the largest medical center in the world, and Johnson Space Center, NASA’s principal control and training center for manned spaceflight.

While moving to Houston comes as an easy decision for many people, selecting the right neighborhood into which to move to can be a hard decision. If you are a recent graduate or a young and upcoming professional you might consider West University Place, located just 15 minutes from downtown Houston. This is also a great place to move to if you are in the healthcare field, as this community is situated just one short mile from the Texas Medical Center. It’s also very close to Rice University.

For a young urbanite that craves to be in the center of the action, consider Eastwood. This Houston neighborhood is filled with bungalows, Craftsman, and Mission-style architectural homes perfect for the young professional, whether single or with a young family. Located just three miles from the skyscrapers of downtown and the Theater District, this urban oasis is a hop and a skip from all the entertainment Houston has to offer. A new line of Houston’s Metro Rail connecting Eastwood to downtown will be complete in 2012, making this area even more convenient and “user-friendly.” Best of all, houses in Eastwood cost 50 percent less than comparable ones in Montrose or the Heights.

If you are married with a family you may want to purchase a home in The Woodlands. This planned community is located just 27 miles north of Houston. The neighborhood has upscale malls, large business parks, corporate campuses, an outdoor music pavilion, hotels, a convention center, and a hospital. And if you want to leave behind the hustle and bustle of the city, The Woodlands boasts 6,000 acres of protected green space; the commercial districts are completely separated from the residential areas to help protect the rural feel. There are also 200 miles of walking and bike paths, and 125 large and small parks.

So, if you are looking at the many homes for sale in Houston, Texas rejoice in this fact: whatever you want, whatever you need, Houston has the right neighborhood for you.