Home Performance, What’s My (ROI)Return On Investment?

I’ve just returned to sunny and warm Mesa, Arizona after several weeks of traveling around the country visiting with contractors and attending conferences on the subject of building science, more commonly referred to as Home or Building Performance nowadays.

If you’re a regular reader of the Magic Touch Mechanical blog, you know I have written in length about this subject in the past and am passionate about it…Magic Touch is by far considered the leader in the Phoenix market when it comes to improving a home or buildings “performance”.

One question that seems to come up time and time again with both contractors and consumers is; “How much does it save”? My answer to that questions is that simply focusing on the energy saving benefits of home performance improvements and not really discussing or maybe understanding the other benefits of this type of work is the wrong approach.

In most cases, far more recognized and appreciated by consumers that have had “improvements” made on their homes or office buildings are the improvements in comfort, decrease in dust in the home or building, elimination of “hot rooms” and “drafty rooms”, etc.

Granted, we all want to save money when we can and its no secret anymore that sealing leaky ducts, adding attic insulation, installing high efficiency air conditioners and furnaces, etc. will reduce your energy bill. We’ve documented as much as 51% savings in annual utility costs in fact!

BUT, consider this; isn’t it a greater benefit to actually be able to comfortably use that Arizona Room year round? To actually have your guests be able to use that spare bedroom above the garage in the summer (in-laws excluded). To have your asthmatic son or daughter breathing comfortably, instead of missing school? (How much do days off of work, doctor visits and breathing treatments cost per year?)

My point here is not that we shouldn’t consider “How much will my utility bill go down if I do this?”, that’s a big part of home performance improvements. More so my point is that we should consider the bigger picture and look at all the improvements this work has on not only our homes, but on our lives.

Consider; energy savings, comfort, health, safety, durability, and lifestyle when figuring out the overall value of making improvements to your home or office and you will always see an immediate return on your investment!