Finally, The Solar Graphic

For new readers, I've been reporting on our experience with new solar panels on our southwest-facing roof these last few months.  I'm having a bit of trouble managing the graphic transfer from PGE's website to this newsletter, but see below:

The blue line is our electric consumption; red is the ''typical home,'' and yellow is ''the typical efficient home.''   The college students left at the end of this data series, so that's not the explanation for the rather steep drop!  Our electricity consumption has dropped precipitously since the solar panels finally got connected (about six months after we signed up, by the way).  Their use pushes us from the expensive 36 cents a kilowatt hour marginal rate to the 13 cents a kilowatt hour rate, so we're using less net electricity, and that which we're using is much cheaper on a unit basis.

We need more months with the numbers, but so far, so good!  This last month, we saved quite a bit more than the promised $135/mo on our bill--and that represented a 4% risk-free (?) return on our investment.  See the last page of http://www.icebase.com/dbadmin/print.pl?FirstMailingList_2Q13 for the graphic.

The Health Care Act

My nurse practitioner sister sent this <a href=''http://kff.org/health-reform/video/youtoons-obamacare-video/''>link</a> to the family (there are nine of us kids and about 35 grandchildren).  It's a nice useful primer, and of course everyone who already has insurance sees no change.

(If you're dying to find out more about my unusual past, <a href=''https://sites.google.com/site/aboutmaureenkennedy/my-past''>click here</a>.)

Government Shutdown Impacts on Housing

Some of you may not know that I was working for the federal government during the last shutdown.  After serving as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy under HUD Secretary Cisneros, I moved over to run the Administration's rural housing and community development loan programs as head of “Farmer's Home,” managing 5,000 staff, 1,700 local offices and a $4 billion loan portfolio for single- and multi-family housing and community development loans.  We cut the agency's appropriation by about 40% by centralizing loan servicing, closing many offices, and shifting from a 1% loan for all eligible homebuyers to a sliding scale loan ratea shift long overdue.  Our entire staff--from top to bottom--was on hiatus for those weeks.  I could not get into the building.

These days, nearly all loans (and re-fis) require some government involvement before closing.  Buyers assert net income based on tax returns, but the lender has to check with the IRS, which is on hiatus, for accuracy before closing a loan.  So for now, most loans that Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac will buy are on hold, any FHA (low downpayment) loan is on hold, and many jumbo loans are on hold.  And all those home sales are correspondingly on hold, along with any other sales which depend on these sales closing.  Home sales are abstract when they don't involve you, but know that some of your friends and neighbors are really feeling the pinch during this shutdown.  When the IRS gets back in business, they'll have a backlog; we'll need to be prepared for some delays then as well.

Gutters Clear? Furnace Filter Changed?

I talk to my buyers about ''the small chance of a big problem.''  Stucco houses without deep roof overhangs and with clogged up downspouts can sometimes shift rainwater back behind the stucco and down the ''inside'' of the house's skin.  Over the course of 80 years, the framing can rot.  And you have to take all that stucco off--and put more back on--as you fix that problem.  Bills in the 40k-100k range are not as uncommon as you'd like to think.  Best way to avoid that small chance of a big problem is to clear your gutters of leaves from surrounding trees.

Right now is a perfect moment--that windstorm last weekend brought down a bunch of debris, and you'd like to get rid of it before the first rain shoves it down the downspout.

Two of my ;local favorites are Mr. Sparkle, and Gorilla Gutters.  Mr. Sparkle is offering $20 off right now.  They'd suggest you get the job done twice a year, but I bet for many of us, it's been a decade since the gutters were cleared.  Do it now!

And don't forget <a href=''http://www.airfiltersdelivered.com''>airfiltersdelivered.com</a>--it's the Costco for your furnace's air filters, and you don't have to deal with the Costco ''thing'' to get them.

They show up on your doorstep.

And you get friendly reminders to change out your filters every 90 days or so (don't tell anyone that I change mine every year, though it does fill up with dog hair.....).

I spent 2 minutes ordering a dozen two weeks ago, and they arrived like affordable magic on my door step last week. Again, I bet for many of us, the air filter hasn't been changed since you moved in.  A furnace serviceperson told me recently that really dirty filters can make your furnace work harder to do the job, shortening its lifespan.  So really, order several, take 30 seconds to change it out (I'll even come over to show you where!), and get with the program.

Those Nest Folks Just Don't Stop!

You've followed our experience with a <a href=''http://nest.com/thermostat/life-with-nest-thermostat/ ''>Nest</a> thermostat installation.  When you open the box, you feel just as you did when you opened the box containing your first Apple laptop.  I still love holding the screwdriver they included (hey, it comes in handy!).  And I look forward to lots of energy savings this coming heating season.

Well, they sent us all a preview of their newest product--a combined smoke and CO monitor.  Not inexpensive ($129), it can be turned off (when burning toast) with a wave.  Gotta like that.  But the big ah-ha is that it links to your laptop or iPhone.

I'm less confident about the value of that functionality, but I swear to god that if my communication skills ever rival theirs, based on this <a href=''https://store.nest.com/product/smoke-co-alarm/#meet-the-nest-protect''>video</a> on the product, I'll die and go to heaven.

By the way, CA requires a CO monitor on each floor and a smoke detector on each floor and in each bedroom at sale, so relying on these Nest monitors would not be not inexpensive.  But for an older home without good coverage, or in other parts of the country, an integrated CO/smoke detector is a really good thing.