The blog at ranchrevival

Anybody who owns one can tell you: older ranch houses aren’t exactly model green buildings. People who’ve recently bought ranchers built in the 1950s, ‘60s and ‘70s will tell you they bought them because they liked the older, established neighborhood, or the mature landscaping, or because they cost significantly less than a new house would have – cost being a particularly important issue for many first-time buyers. But, they’ll also tell you it’s a tradeoff. While the smaller, older house can make a smaller mortgage possible, the smaller square footage doesn’t always translate to proportionately lower utility costs. If the mechanicals, appliances, fixtures and windows are energy-inefficient, that smaller house may be sucking up energy in big-house style. If you’re thinking of buying an older rancher, be aware.

Funky, retro, resource hog
Unless somebody upgraded before you got there, you may be looking at a furnace and A/C unit that are both energy hogs by today’s standards. Those older appliances like ovens and refrigerators may look retro chic, but those, too, may be energy drains. The older windows, even with the old storms intact, may be leaking air like sieves. Same thing for the older bath fixtures: they may look period appropriate, but are big water wasters. Ack! So, there you are with a funky, retro, resource hog that’s sucking extra money out of your pockets each month.

Go green, even in retro style, for less than you expect
The good news is you don’t have to do a high-fallutin’, high-cost remodel to green up that rancher. Replacing those outdated appliances and fixtures may cost less than you think, may get you a tax break (at least through the end of this year) and give you a timely payback. If you’re into retro-style renovation, there’s more good news: lots of companies now offer retro-style, energy efficient appliances at reasonable prices. Remember: any energy-efficient upgrade you do will decrease your drag on the environment and save you money on your utility bills every month.

Simple things you can do right now
There are even a few simple things you can check for and do right now, spending very little, that will create an immediate positive impact on the environment and your wallet, pocket or purse. These tips are geared to the heating season as we head into Fall. Just doing these simple things can reduce your monthly energy use by 10-30 percent.

• Weather strip your doors and windows.
• Clean your windows, especially those facing south and west. This lets in more sun = more solar heat gain = less work your furnace has to do.
• Close your shades and curtains at night. This helps keeps the heat in.
• Put insulation behind the outlet covers on your outside walls, including the wall on the garage side if the garage space is not heated. There are inexpensive inserts made just for this purpose.
• Close the damper and glass doors on your fireplace when you’re not using it.
• Unblock your air registers: move curtains, furniture or carpet away from them and make sure they’re free of dust.
• If you have radiators, bleed the air out of your system to increase their efficiency.
• If you have baseboards, take off the covers and vacuum and straighten the coils.
• Clean or replace your furnace filter (check it every month during peak heating season).
• Turn off your kitchen or bathroom fan after 20 minutes so you don’t suck out heat unnecessarily.
• Put an insulating blanket on your hot water tank. They’re available and inexpensive from your local home improvement store.
• Insulate your hot water pipes. There are modular foam pieces made for this purpose that you can cut to fit and snap right on. Also available and inexpensive from your local home improvement store.
• Keep your doors and windows closed if the heat is on (yes, this falls into the “Doy!” category).
• Turn the thermostat down when you go to bed at night and when you leave the house.

Today is Blog Action Day
By the way, speaking of environmental impact, today is Blog Action Day: more than 15,000 bloggers around the world are taking time out to blog about the environment. If you’re curious about what people are posting, just do a browser search on the words “Blog Action Day,” and have fun! If you’re a blogger and want to join in the global conversation, today, go to http://www.blogactionday.org