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Blowing an attic with insulation is cheap (and good value), but throw in double pane windows, insulated hot water pipes, roofs equipped for solar panels, energy
by WillPostForFood 10y ago
Blowing an attic with insulation is cheap (and good value), but throw in double pane windows, insulated hot water pipes, roofs equipped for solar panels, energy star appliances, automatic lighting controls and it adds up.
Regarding perverse incentives - the home mortgage deduction is one of the worst. Take money from renters to subsidize homeowners, and drive up housing prices in the process.
- steveax 10y agoAgreed, it's time to start phasing out and/or putting caps on the mortgage interest deduction.
- Retric 10y agoHome solar panels are a solid investment, but not what's driving up median home prices. Oddly enough, home solar hot water heaters are a better investment than a lot of the more expensive insulation methods. Double pain windows for example are slightly better than 50's style storm windows which also had 2 set's of glass, but not by a huge amount. At least compared to having 80% of home heating needs in Maine covered for under 10k. Some of this cost is required by poorly written efficiency requirements. But a 50's style house updated to be highly efficient might cost 120k and sit on 10k of land, but that's a long way from 200+k.