How Solar-Powered Products Can Increase Your Home's Value

Solar power has more applications in and around the home than most people realize. While state and local governments actively provide incentives to home owners who install solar power systems in their homes, few people make that investment. However, if you would like to use solar power devices to increase your home's value, invest in the following solar devices and watch the value of your home soar.

Bathroom - Solar Water Heater

When most investors buy a home with the intention of flipping, or reselling, for profit; the first rooms they will typically go after to renovate is the kitchen and the bathroom. Updates to the kitchen and bathroom can have a return-on-investment of 85 to 90 percent.

This is why one of the items that can have the biggest positive impact on the value of your home is the solar water heater.

The typical family in the U.S. uses about 80 gallons of hot water every day, and heating that water can add a significant amount to household energy costs. Factoring in the drastically increasing cost of fuel and the cost of heating water using conventional methods is one of the highest household energy costs.

Upgrading a home heating system with solar power will make your home stand out from the other homes that still have older fuel-driven heating systems, and when your buyers calculate the long-term energy savings they'll realize thanks to the solar water heating system, they'll be offering that much more for your home.

Jacuzzi with a Solar Powered Water System

While a pool has a potential to reduce the resale value of your home, a Jacuzzi will typically increase the value. One major drawback with a Jacuzzi or hot tub is the cost to pump, filter, and heat the water. Most standard Jacuzzi systems utilize electric or gas to power these functions.

While a pool typically requires a larger array of solar panels to perform these actions, a Jacuzzi only needs about 3 to 5 gallons per minute pumped, filtered and heated. This means that all three of these functions can be performed utilizing solar power. It can be completed using fewer and smaller panels, and the water lines can be run to an indoor or an outdoor Jacuzzi.

A hot tub can greatly improve the quality of living in a home. Making an investment to install a Jacuzzi is significant enough without having to worry about the significant costs of operating it. If you install a solar system as part of the Jacuzzi which makes operating it essentially free, potential buyers are sure to take notice.

Solar Powered Security System

Regardless of where you live, everyone enjoys the peace of mind that a home security system offers. A typical security system includes all of the following components:

- Sensors
- Lights
- Security cameras
- Motion detectors
- Window monitors
- Alarms

Larger security systems that make use of all of these components can add to the electrical costs of running a home.

Since most buyers consider a comprehensive and well integrated security system to be a major plus when looking at a home, they will also take into consideration the cost of operating the system.

You can remove this concern by utilizing solar power for the components of the security system. There is a large and growing market of solar powered security devices such as security cameras, lighting, sensors, and more. The more components you can purchase that are solar, the lower the cost of operation the system. Such a system would easily place you on the buyers list of preferred properties.

Outdoor Solar Fountain

Over the past few years, outdoor décor is becoming more and more a priority to home buyers. More people want to make better use of their outdoor living space, so anything you can do to improve the outdoor living space around your house will be sure to catch the eye of potential buyers.

One way to do this is to install a beautiful solar water fountain. The great thing about a solar fountain is that you have the benefit of a pleasing outdoor décor without the typical associated costs of pumping water, which can get expensive if it's run constantly. Secondly, utilizing solar power in beautiful outdoor display as this represents a deeper appreciation for the environment and the part we can play as homeowners in helping to save that environment. You can be sure that when a potential buyer is told that this stunning outdoor fountain runs entirely on solar energy - they will be quite impressed.

Closing the Deal - Go Solar!

Tax rebates and other such incentives are usually enough to motivate many folks to take the leap into the world of solar power. However, more and more people are recognizing that you can turn to solar-powered products that will increase your home resale value. Potential home buyers will recognize your home as one that stands out from the rest of the neighborhood as a unique home with a much higher value than other standard homes which lack the innovation and environmentally conscious use of solar energy.