The 7 Worst Architectural Features That Will Make Your Home Utility Bills Higher

Many energy-costing features are considered very desirable to a lot of home buyers

. But if they understood what it would add to their monthly expenses they might not want them at all.

Heres a list of what to avoid.

1.Big stair halls in the entry and going up through all the levels of the house. These stairs are beautiful but they are not helpful at keeping the expensive air, what you are paying to heat and cool, where you need it. Be ready for a shock when the utility bills come.

2.Cathedral ceilings. Heating and/or cooling a huge volume of space that is mostly above your head is expensive. Its also wasteful. Sure maybe you can afford it but do you really want to spend your money that way?

3.Walls of windows, especially if they go 2 stories high. Windows never insulate you from the outside air as well as walls. Additionally homes can get a lot of passive solar heat gain through this kind of glass making air conditioning really expensive. Furniture and rugs can fade, too. But a properly designed passive solar house and be a real workhorse for a lucky homeowner. Design in good passive solar, not bad.

4.Basements you dont use. Basements are earth sheltered and cheaper to heat and cool than the rest of your house. They also offer some protection from storms and quiet living space that is more protected from outside noise.

5.Lots of square feet. The bigger the house the more it will cost to heat cool and run. Think hard about how much room you really need if you dont want outrageous power bills. Additionally its difficult to make a really big house cute. Cute is a good thing to have when you need to resale.

6.Lots of bedrooms and baths. Each additional room will cost more to heat, cool, and pay taxes on as long as you own the house.

7.Big ego kitchens. A lot people buy and pay outrageous amounts for kitchens. A 27,000 BTU wok or a $10,000 stove will pull a lot of gas or electricity every time you turn them on. The bigger space and the appliances mean higher costs for you.

Have someone look at your plans and evaluate utility costs before you build. No matter how well you build and insulate big houses still cost a lot to heat, cool and maintain.

Greener methods are expensive, too. A standard house might need 30 to 40 solar panels to run.

But one of Michael Reynolds Earthships can run on 4 to 6 panels and actually be off the grid completely.

So, think. Do you really want to pay all those bills? Maybe you dont.

by: Paula Stone

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