How Can We Avoid Scams?

Avoiding Scams

Often times we hear in the news of the newest ways we can be scammed. With the change in utility bills, there will inevitably be folks looking to take advantage of the unknowing and unsuspecting homeowner by offering services and devices that will end up costing you more money. 

Utility bills may be higher than ever this summer (2018) for customers of Arizona Public Service, due to recent rate increases. The effects of the rate changes will really be noticeable when we’re running our air conditioners more. Maybe you’re thinking about what to do to keep your bills from soaring. Buying new, more energy appliances might help. Cooking outside more often on your gas-powered barbecue might work, too. You could also switch all your light bulbs to energy-efficient LEDs. These changes won’t make dramatic differences in your utility bills, but they can help.

The main thing to watch out for:

Sales people trying try to talk you into making high-cost improvements as a way of keeping rates down. They are probably zeroing in on Arizona residents because of the rate increases.

Here are some expensive changes you probably want to avoid:

Adding radiant barriers in your attic. 

These barriers might help your house cool down, but they’re very costly. What most of us have in our attics is thermal insulation that slows down the passage of hot air into your rooms below. Radiant barrier insulation uses reflective materials, often foil, to keep heat from entering through the roof into your attic. But for the homeowner who already has the proper R-30 to R-38 insulation, these barriers won’t help that much. Installing them can cost thousands; it may take decades for these barriers to pay for themselves.

Making attic insulation thicker.

How about upgrading insulation you already have? Maybe you do want to do that if your insulation was built before 1984 before standards for insulating changed. But if someone is trying to sell insulation rated at more than R-30 to R-38, stop before you buy. Over-insulating won’t help you much at all.

Installing electric-powered ventilation fans in your attic.

The only thing an attic fan will do, whether solar or electric-powered, is create negative pressure in the attic. That will cause the air-conditioned air inside your home to be drawn up into the attic. Then you will start turning up the thermostat downstairs to get more air conditioning downstairs.

Adding exhaust fans.

Don’t put an exhaust fan in your garage either. Your uninsulated garage is very hot in the summer, and when you drive your hot car into the garage, you raise the temperature some more.

When an exhaust fan is installed, it will run constantly and raise your electric bill just as it would in your attic; it will start pulling cool air out of your house.

The only option for totally cooling a garage would be insulating the walls and the garage door and installing an evaporative cooler or mini-split air conditioner. You may have good reasons for doing all that, but they will be costly.

Putting elastomeric paint on the outside of your house.

Elastomeric caulking is sometimes used on cracks in stucco houses, but you don’t want to use so-called elastomeric paint for an entire house, even though elastomeric paints are effective in reflecting the sun.

These paints are very expensive, and it is very hard to repair your stucco once they are on your house. You may need to re-coat an entire wall if you have a problem. Keep in mind that you cannot paint over elastomeric coated walls with regular paint.

So, this summer, stick to low-cost changes in your lifestyle and your house. Watch your bills carefully and don’t take drastic, costly action before you even know what’s going to happen. After a few months, after keeping an eye on your bill, you’ll have a better idea of what to do next at your house.

PODCAST 

June is National Homeowners Month! Rosie tackles home maintenance questions from listeners including advice on what to look for and ask during a final walk thru of a home purchase. Rosie Certified Realtor John Gluch discusses the hot housing market in Arizona. And Rosie talks about some of the scams that don't save you money on your electric bill.

June Home Maintenance To-Do: #AvoidScams

###