What a Green Home Will Really Cost You

Many consumers have known that the trade-off for converting their house to an energy-efficient green home is to pay more now and save later on the energy bills. However, many of these green consumers are finding that the price to maintain that green energy may not save them in the long haul. Those costs of maintaining, repairing, and getting insurance for green products are not getting any cheaper. On top of that, many tax credits that were available for those consumers going green are beginning to expire. The cost of going green in your home is making it expensive to be eco-conscious.

The Real Cost of Solar Panels to Green a Home

When thinking about an energy-efficient home, upgrading is what most experts consider the first step towards green economics. Those homeowners that begin their journey into the green home upgrades usually start with solar panels. The idea behind solar panel installation is that there is a large initial investment. Installation of solar panels can cost up to $24,000 to install. The payoff is that as you use more sun power and rely less on the utility company, your bills will shrink. Experts agree that most systems pay for themselves with in 10 years. Unfortunately, that is not always the case. Many systems still come with a cost. The local power company can bill you a service charge of up to $250 a year to stay connected to the power grid. The insurance premiums for your new green home can go up if your insurer decides the solar panels are an improvement and the value of your home is higher. On top of that, solar panels need periodic maintenance to keep them running efficiently. Chemicals such as cleaners and antifreeze are needed occasionally to keep the system running.

The Real Cost of Maintaining a Green Home

What many green consumers do not realize until they have bought their systems is that the costs to maintain them are more difficult only because these systems are new. Most repairs or maintenance parts are not available at the local hardware store. On solar panels for example, the most common replacement part is an inverter, a circuit board that converts the solar energy into usable electricity. The inverter can cost a green consumer up to $2,500 to replace. Many times the inverter needs to be replace a couple of times after many warranties have expired.

Many green products for the home are just too new and untested. Quality and durability on new products bring into question the long-term cost payoff for a green home consumer. Bamboo flooring for example is being touted as a green sustainable alternative to hardwoods. However, bamboo flooring if harvested too young can produce flooring that is softer and less quality than standard hardwood floors. The trade-off in green home products is that the green consumer should be aware that eventual payoff will come, just not as quickly as they were lead to believe.