12 Tips for Saving Energy in your Home Office

With roughly 34 million telecommuting adults in America—a number slated to double by 2016, according to Forrester Research—adjustments to your home office power consumption, lighting, and heating and cooling can impact the environment and your wallet—up to about $200 per year in energy costs.

Down-shift your power consumption
1. Activate power-management settings.
Home office electronics have multiple power modes: active (or “on”), active standby (“on” but consuming less than 100% power), and passive standby (or “off”), according to the nonprofit American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy, which promotes energy efficiency to consumers and government policy makers.

You can instruct your computer to move into lower-consumption modes automatically when you’ve stopped using it temporarily—during a lunch hour or phone call, for instance—yet also wake up when you’re ready to resume working. Such tactics can reduce your computer-related electricity costs by $25 to $75 per machine annually, says Energy Star.

Energy Star-rated power management features are available on Macintosh and Windows platforms (XP, Vista, 2000). Energy Star offers tips for how to adjust settings on different platforms.

Other providers offer help, too: Software vendor Verdiem offers a power management set-up tool called Edison and EnergyStar offers a similar tool called EZ Wizard, both of which guide you through the process of setting up power management.

If you’re uneasy launching power management protocols yourself, you can pay software companies’ IT pros to log on to your computer remotely and adjust your settings. Symantec, for instance, charges about $20 for its “Green PC” service.

2. Use a power strip for your computer, printer, copier, and other peripherals.
If you plug office electronics into a power strip, you can switch all of them fully off (versus leaving them in “standby” mode) with one button. Power strips cost around $3 to $12 from online retailers. Standby power—the energy that’s wasted by electronic devices that are plugged in, but not in use—represents about $100 per year in the average household’s electricity costs, says Energy Star. Assuming your home office equipment represents about 4% of your electricity bill, you could save up to $4 a year.

3. Be Energy Minded when you buy.
If you’re investing in new computer equipment, look for Energy Star-rated computers, small servers, copiers, fax machines, and adapters. Energy Star estimates that using these rated electronics in your home office can save $115 over the products’ lifetimes.

4. Consider a laptop over a desktop. Laptops use one-third the power (22 watts) of a typical desktop (68 watts) when in active mode, according to ACEEE. Annually, a laptop could save you about $19 compared with a desktop.

5. Opt for a flat-panel vs. CRT monitor. A cathode-ray tube monitor consumes about 70 watts of power, while an LCD or flat-panel eats only 27, according to ACEEE data. That’s about $1 in savings over year.

Reduce lighting costs
6. Replace traditional bulbs with compact fluorescents. By replacing one 60-watt incandescent bulb with an equivalent compact fluorescent in a home office where lights are on for eight hours per day, you could save up to $15 per year, according to Energy Star.

7. Buy CFL versions of halogen lights. If you like the look or brightness of halogen or torchiere lamps, the The Edison Electric Institute recommends buying compact fluorescent versions that consume less than 25% of the power (55 to 65 watts) of conventional versions (300 watts) and cost about the same.

8. Consider task lighting. Opting for a desk lamp versus whole-room lighting lets you use fewer bulbs concurrently, according to The Institute.

9. Locate lamps in corners. The adjoining walls will magnify the light across the room.

10. Turn off lights when leaving a room.

Keep heating and cooling costs at bay
11. Lower thermostats 10% during the day (to 62, for instance, from 68). This can save up to 10% on annual heating and cooling bills, according to the DOE, or about $100 per year. Supplement with thick slippers and sweaters in winter and keep windows open in summer, with shades down in the afternoon.

12. Use a space heater in winter and a portable or ceiling fan in summer. Both room-specific solutions cost far less than running whole-house systems at maximum capacity. Using fans or space heaters will eat into your savings for lowering the thermostat, but not nearly as much as using a central heating or cooling system throughout the house. Fans can run $25-$150; space heaters, $10-$80 at online retailers.

If your office is one-third the size of your house or smaller, you can safely estimate that space heating will be more cost-effective than heating the entire home just for the sake of the office, according to NYSEG, a utility company in Rochester, N.Y.

Optimizing your home office for maximum energy efficiency requires little effort, but can help lower your home’s overall energy consumption and annual utility bill without hampering productivity.

To see all the homes with home offices that are available in the Atlanta area go to: http://www.anzianorealestate.com/

Save Energy in the Family Room

Reduce your electricity bills by systematically purging your family room of wasteful energy practices.

The fun—a video game console, TV, DVR, DVD, and stereo system—that your family room provides comes with a price. By reducing standby power, using rechargeable batteries in remotes, and replacing incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescents, you could save up to $130 a year in energy costs.

And if you’re in the market for a new TV, you can save even more energy by being flexible on the type you buy.

1. Reconsider that plasma TV. The three biggest energy hogs in the family room are the plasma television, DVR/Tivo box, and digital cable box, says the nonprofit American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy, which promotes energy efficiency to consumers and government policymakers.

A typical plasma TV (less than 40 inches) consumes 441 kilowatt hours of electricity per year, according to ACEEE. That translates into about $50 (based on 11.3 cents per kilowatt hour). Next up are TiVo devices at $41 annually, followed by digital cable boxes at $27. Both devices are always fully on because they constantly receive and download data.

Opting for an LCD (liquid crystal display) TV will cost about $8 to operate annually—for an annual savings of about $42 over the plasma. Of course, weigh your decision against the cost of a new TV.

2. Reduce standby power. Vampire power—the energy that’s wasted by electronic devices that are plugged in, but not in use—represents about $100 per year in the average household’s electricity costs, says Energy Star. Assuming the family room represents about 15% of your electricity bill, you could save about $15 per year with smart standby practices.

Unplug rarely used electronics (like that karaoke machine) altogether and cluster other appliances, even adapters for cell phones and digital cameras, onto power strips ($3-$12 for a six-outlet strip). Then you can fully turn off all attached electronics with one switch.

Unfortunately, some family room electronics, such as set-top boxes and downloading devices like TiVo, can’t be turned off, because that would disrupt the digital data-gathering you’ve programmed them to do. But with a so-called smart power strip (about $20 to $40 through online retailers), you can completely turn off your TV while leaving the always-on DVR plugged in.

3. Opt for Energy Star-rated electronics. They’re anywhere from 6% (audio products) to 75% (DVD players) more efficient than non-rated electronics. Take Energy Star-rated television sets. They use about one-third less energy than their nonrated counterparts.

If you can’t live without plasma, consider an Energy Star model for which you’ll pay $18 less per year in operating costs than for a nonrated one. If you use an Energy Star-rated digital cable box (ask your provider if any are available for no charge), you could pay 30% less for energy—an annual savings of about $8.50. Energy Star hasn’t yet published data on swapping out a DVR or Tivo device.

4. Invest in rechargeable batteries. No, they won’t help you save on your electric bill. But you’ll save on the cost of batteries for your video game system and other entertainment remotes, according to PJ Stafford, founder of Green Irene, an eco-consulting company that provides energy and environmental makeovers to homeowners. You’ll help the environment, too. For every rechargeable battery you buy, you prevent at least 500 single-use batteries from entering the waste stream, Stafford says.

Consider a game system charger station, which runs about $25, or outfit your media room with 10 rechargeable batteries and two chargers for $55 to $65. (Rechargeable AA and AAA batteries cost $3 to 3.50 apiece, versus 75 cents to $1 for disposables; a charger costs $25 to $30.) That investment in rechargeable batteries and chargers, in lieu of 500 batteries over four years, adds up to about $310 to $445 in savings. Buying a charging system for your video game system eliminates the need to buy batteries for the controllers.

Call your local trash collection service to find out which batteries can be recycled or taken to a transfer station versus being thrown away. If you’re doing a major sweep-out of old batteries and appliances, consider Big Green Box, which lets you send your devices and batteries to a sustainable processing facility. Recycle old rechargeable batteries for free via programs like Call 2 Recycle.

5. Replace bulbs with compact fluorescents. By replacing one 60-watt incandescent bulb with the equivalent compact fluorescent in a family room where lights are on for four hours per day, you could save $7 per year. CFLs cost between $2 and $15.

See all the energy efficient homes in Metro Atlanta.

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Improve Curb Appeal and Safety with Inexpensive Outdoor Lighting

Think about it: Most of your guests (and if your home is on the market, many would-be buyers) see your home only in the evening, when its best features may be lost in the shadows. Well-executed outdoor lighting enhances architectural detail and plays up landscape features, casting your home in the best possible light and adding an abundance of curb appeal.

Outdoor lighting also adds value. Judith Patriski, an appraiser and owner of Quad Realty Co. near Cleveland, estimates that for upper-bracket homes, an investment in outdoor lighting can yield a 50% return. “When you pull into a driveway and see a gorgeous home, you’re going to pay more for it,” says Patriski.

And she emphasizes that it’s not only about aesthetics: “In all price ranges, lighting for security is important”—both to protect against intruders and falls. Here are the elements of successful outdoor lighting.

Mimicking moonlight
Much of the success of exterior lighting hinges on its design. Hang around lighting designers long enough and you’ll hear a lot of talk about “moonlight effect.” That’s a naturalistic look that features light no more intense than that of a full moon, but still strong enough to make beautiful shadows and intense highlights.

Other techniques outdoor lighting designers use:

Highlight trees: Whether illumined from below or given presence by a light mounted in the tree itself, trees make stunning features.

Use uplights: Uplighting is dramatic because we expect light to shine downward. Used in moderation, it’s a great way to highlight architectural and landscaping features.

Have a focus: The entryway is often center stage, a way of saying, “Welcome, this way in.”
Combine beauty and function: For example, adding lighting to plantings along a pathway breaks up the “runway” look of too many lights strung alongside a walk.

Vary the fixtures: While the workhorses are spots and floods, designers turn to a wide range of fixtures, area lights, step lights, and bollards or post lights.

Stick to warm light: A rainbow of colors are possible, but most designers avoid anything but warm white light, preferring to showcase the house and its landscape rather than create a light show.

Orchestrate: A timer, with confirmation from a photocell, brings the display to life as the sun sets. At midnight it shuts shut down everything but security lighting. Some homeowners even set the timer to light things up an hour or so before dawn.

Adding safety and security
Falls are the foremost cause of home injury, according to the Home Safety Council. Outdoors, stair and pathway lighting help eliminate such hazards.

Often safety and security can be combined. For example, motion-detecting security lighting mounted near the garage provides illumination when you get out of your car at night; the same function deters intruders. Motion detecting switches can also be applied to landscape lighting to illumine shadowy areas should anyone walk nearby.

Even the moonlight effect has a security function: Soft, overall landscape lighting eliminates dark areas that might hide an intruder, exposing any movement on your property. Overly bright lights actually have a negative effect, creating undesirable pockets of deep shadow.

Switching to LEDs
Once disparaged for their high cost and cold bluish glow, LEDs are now the light source of choice for lighting designers. “They’ve come down in price and now have that warm light people love in incandescent bulbs,” says Paul Gosselin, owner of Night Scenes Landscape Lighting Professionals in Kingsland, Texas. “We haven’t installed anything but LEDs for the last year.”

Although LED fixtures remain twice as expensive as incandescents, installation is simpler because they use low-voltage wiring. “All in all, LEDs cost only about 25% more to install,” Gosselin says. “And they’ll save about 75% on your electricity bill.”

Another advantage is long life. LEDs last at least 40,000 hours, or about 18 years of nighttime service. With that kind of longevity, “why should a fixture have only a two-year warranty?” asks Gosselin. He advises buying only fixtures with a 15-year warranty, proof that the fixture’s housing is designed to live as long as the LED bulbs inside.

Innovations
The growing popularity of exterior lighting has led to innovative fixtures. Here are some bright new ideas:

Solar lighting: When first introduced, solar pathway lights produced a dull glow that rarely made it through the night. They do much better now that they are equipped with electricity-sipping LEDs, more efficient photovoltaic cells, and better batteries. Still, they have yet to measure up to hard-wired systems.

Hybrids: Porch lights now come equipped with LED lighting for all night use, and a motion sensor that clicks on an incandescent bulb to provide extra illumination as you approach the front door. Hybrids use about 5% of the power a solely incandescent fixture requires.

Barbecue light: Tired of grilling steaks by flash light? Now you can buy a gooseneck outdoor light, ideal for an outdoor kitchen.

Estimating the cost
Total outdoor lighting costs will vary according to the size of your home and the complexity of your lighting scheme. Expect to pay about $325 for each installed LED fixture. LEDs also require a transformer to step the power down from 120 volts to 12 volts, running about $400 installed.

A motion detector security light costs about $150 installed. Porch lights and sconces range from $100 to $250 installed, depending the fixture and whether running new cable is necessary.

Contractor-installed outdoor lighting for an average, two-story, 2,200 sq. ft. house might add up as follows:

7 fixtures to cover 100 feet of LED pathway lighting: $2,275
Transformer: $400
4 LED uplights to dramatize the front of the house: $1,300
2 LED area lights for plantings: $650
2 motion detector security lights: $300

Total cost: $4,925

Author Dave Toht has written or edited more than 60 books on home repair and remodeling, including titles for The Home Depot, Lowe’s, Better Homes & Gardens, Sunset, and Reader’s Digest. A former contractor, Dave was editor of Remodeling Ideas magazine and continues to contribute to numerous how-to publications.

Please share this article and this blog with your friends; then, see all the pretty (and well lit homes) in your favorite Atlanta area: www.AnzianoRealEstate.com

Working From Home...What's Deductable?

If you work from home, even on a part-time basis, you can probably save a few dollars come tax time.

That’s because if you itemize your deductions on your federal tax return, you can write off as a business expense part of the cost of owning and operating your home. Everything from electric bills to property taxes may be fair game.

Those tax deductions can add up, thus lowering your taxable income and reducing the amount you owe Uncle Sam. Before you start spending that refund, however, there are a few rules you need to understand and heed. It’s a good idea to consult a tax adviser to be sure that you’re filing the right schedules and maximizing your deductions.

Passing the IRS litmus test
To meet IRS guidelines, your home office must be your principal place of business, or the place you see clients in the normal course of business. Parts of your home you use to store products or equipment for your business also count. That doesn’t mean that all your work has to be done from home. If you’re an outside salesperson, you probably spend most of your work time elsewhere. But if you do you billing and return customer calls primarily from your home, your home office should qualify.

You can also qualify for the deduction if your employer requires you to work from home, as long as you don’t charge your employer rent. One big catch is that you can’t deduct expenses for your home office if you choose to work at home even though your employer provides you with an office. IRS Form 8829 can be used by self-employed workers to calculate the home office deduction, which should be reported on Schedule C.

Measuring your home office
The amount you can deduct for your home office depends on the percentage of your home used for business. Your work space doesn’t need to be a separate room—a table in a corner qualifies. But it has to be an area that’s used solely for business. The tax break also covers separate structures on your property, like a detached garage you’ve converted to an office. Unlike an office inside your home, a separate structure doesn’t have to be your main place of business to qualify for a deduction. That’s because the IRS believes your family is less likely to use a separate structure as a part-time play area or den, says Mark Luscombe, principal analyst for tax and consulting at CCH.

To calculate what percentage of your house the home office occupies, divide your home office’s square footage by the total square footage of your home. If your home is 3,000 square feet and your office is 150 square feet, for example, you’d use 5% to calculate your deductions. Not sure how big your house is? Check the documents you received when you bought your home—there’s probably a detailed rendering—or measure the outside of your home and multiply length times width.

What can you deduct?
Once you’ve figured out what percentage of your home you use for business, you can apply that percentage to different home expenses. These include:

• Mortgage interest


• Real estate taxes


• Utilities (heating, cooling, lights)


• Home repairs and maintenance (painting, cleaning service)


• Homeowners insurance premiums

Just take each expense and multiply it by your home office percentage (the 5% mentioned above). That’s the amount you can deduct as a business expense. So if you spend $150 a month on electricity, you can deduct $7.50 as a business expense. That adds up to a $90 deduction per tax year. If your annual business expenses total $10,000, your deduction is $500. In 2009, lowering your taxable income by $500 to $99,500 would’ve cut your tax bill by $113.

Save bills or cancelled checks to prove what you spent in case of an IRS audit. Take an hour a week to file them away. Also, only repairs can be expensed; improvements must be depreciated. One catch: You can only deduct expenses if your business generates income. Expense deductions are limited if they exceed your gross business income, says Mark Steber, chief tax officer at Jackson Hewitt Tax Service.

Don’t forget depreciation
Depreciation is based on the idea that everything—even something like a home—wears out eventually. To figure home office depreciation, start by calculating the tax basis of your home: generally the purchase price plus the cost of improvements, minus the value of the land it sits on. Next, multiply the tax basis by the percentage of your home used for work. This gives you the tax basis for you home office. Finally, multiply that by a depreciation percentage that’s set periodically by the IRS. There are caveats. For a crash course, read IRS Publication 946 or talk to a tax professional.

One reason to think twice before taking depreciation on your home office is that it reduces the capital gains deduction you can get when you sell a home. If you’ve deducted depreciation, you have reduced your capital gains exemption ($250,000 of profit if you’re a single filer, $500,000 for joint filers) by the depreciated amount. That could mean you’ll owe taxes when you sell, especially if you’ve lived in your home for a while.

This article was written by Donna Fuscaldo who has written about personal finance for more then a decade for Dow Jones Newswites, the Wall Street Journal and Fox Business Newsprovides; she caveats that this is general information about tax laws and consequences, but is not intended to be relied upon by readers as tax or legal advice applicable to particular transactions or circumstances. Readers should consult a tax professional for such advice, and are reminded that tax laws may vary by jurisdiction.

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