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Replacing all your windows
with Low-E high efficiency windows:
Replacing your window will increase the value and beauty of your home, and will marginally lower the energy usage of your home and increase some comfort, but in comparison to a Design Comfort Home system it is more expensive to install all new windows and you will only gain half the efficiency and some of the comfort of a Design Comfort Home.
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Install an additional
forced air heating and air-conditioning system.
This solution has historically been the most popular for increasing the comfort in an overheated upper level or an under heated lower level. In comparison to a Design Comfort Home this solution is expensive and is only capable of increasing the comfort in one area of your home, and it does little to increase efficiency. One Design Comfort Home system can give you up to twenty-six new areas of comfort.
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Install a zoned hydronic
heating system.
A zoned hydronic (hot water) heating system comes closer than anything else to a Design Comfort Home. With a zoned hydronic heating system you can set your bathrooms to be warmer than your bedrooms, and the number of comfort areas is almost limitless. Also the heating efficiency of a zoned hydronic heating system comes close to a Design Comfort Home. Where these two systems differ is that unlike a hydronic heating system a Design Comfort Home offers the same benefits during cooling season as it does for heating, and it is about an eighth of the cost of a zoned in floor hydronic heating system.
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Add unit heaters,
fireplaces, or electric heaters in different areas.
Installing small unit heaters or fireplaces in various areas of your home has been deceptively attractive to many people because of the relatively low cost per unit area, but when the collective cost of heaters in different areas is added up the cost of this solution can nearly double or triple the cost of a Design Comfort Home. Unit heaters or fireplaces can also be more expensive to operate than a Design Comfort Home.
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Just doing without
You may think this a funny alternative, but many would have you believe this is the most conservative approach. When it comes to upfront costs just doing without can be very deceptive. For example lets take the bargain price of $200,000 for a 4,000 square foot house. Assume that the home is like many and that 1/3rd of the home is less than comfortable and so you spend little time in those areas. The uncomfortable areas could be a cold basement, a hot bedroom, or just various areas that you find yourself spending little or no time in. With this in mind you’ll find that you spent $66,000 for home square footage that you don’t use. Considering the energy usage of “just doing without” you are wasting an additional 40 cents on every dollar of utility costs. Even if you have an average low cost of $125 per month for heating and cooling, you would be wasting at total of $15,000 over 25 years. Which is the typical life expectancy of heating and cooling equipment. The increased efficiency payback from a Design Comfort Home nearly doubles the investment over the life of the heating and cooling equipment. In other words it more than pays for itself.
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Move to or build a more
comfortable home
Many have considered this a last resort to improving their home comfort. Well you don’t have to move out of your home. A Design Comfort Home can be easily retrofitted into practically any home. If you have your heart set on moving out of your old home in a few years that’s ok too because a Design Comfort Home is portable. In as little as 4 to 5 years a Design Comfort Home will have saved you enough money through increased energy efficiency to pay for its relocation to your new home. Or only 3 to 4 years if you are building a new home.