Federal Tax Credits For Energy Efficiency + Fall Back

On November 1, clocks need to be set back one hour at 2 a.m. for local daylight savings time - which will then become 1 a.m. local standard time instead.

At that time, the National Fire Protection Association and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission recommends that you change the battery in your smoke detector as well.  While you've got your ladder out to check your smoke detectors, why not change a light bulb?  By switching to energy efficient bulbs in your ceiling fixtures, you could save $30 a year per bulb on your electricity bill.  Energy efficiency lighting is particularly important in the Fall when Daylight Saving time ends and the days will be shorter.
 
Find out more about lighting rebates and discounts.

There is also stimulus monies available from the American Recovery and Investment Act for tax savings you can count on:

Here's the Energy Star website with the information.  Until December 31, 2010,  homeowners can take advantage of a variety of tax credits of 30% of the cost, up to $1,500 on a variety of energy saving products placed in service in 2009 and 2010.  Insulation, windows, doors, roofing, heating, ventilating and air conditioning systems, tankless water heaters and alternative energy programs, such as solar panels and wind turbines.

There's great information from the Remodeler's Council on the Energy Tax Credits - take a look. Clicking on their website, this image becomes interactive.

ALL ABOUT.....Portland.Oregon.Real Estate, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License. © Copyright 2008-2009 Betty Jung. All Rights Reserved. Use of this article, photos and images without permission is a violation of federal copyright laws.  Based on a Blog at WordPress.

(For more local and national real estate information, go to www.bettyjung.com).

2009 Fall Leaf Recycle Drop Off Sites

This Fall must have been the prettiest we've had in a very long time.  At least, I don't remember having one this nice where all the leaves were in their finest colors.

2009 Leaf Depot Locations

• Lents Park – SE 92nd and SE Holgate, in the eastside parking lot
• Stanton Yard – 2929 N Kerby, west of Emanuel Hospital
• Westmoreland Park – SE 22nd and SE Nehalem, in parking lot next to the baseball field
• Gabriel Park – SW 42nd and Vermont, in the upper parking lot

Only leaves will be accepted. No other yard debris will be allowed. Please contact Metro Recycling at 503-234-3000 or use your curbside yard debris container for this material.

2009 Leaf Depot Fees

• $5.00 per car load
• $10.00 per truck, SUV, or trailer load
• $20.00 per truck and trailer (5 cubic yard maximum)
• No commercial loads - these individuals will be referred to small local businesses, commercial recycling centers, or Metro.

LAKE OSWEGO

The City of Lake Oswego does not have a leaf drop off program.  Residents should use compost bins, take leaves to a drop off site designated by METRO or use the yard-debris containers provided by Rossman Sanitary Service.  Rossman customers who require additional collection can also use "Kraft" bags available at most home improvement stores.

WEST LINN

Leaves may be disposed of in your yard debris container provided by your garbage hauler or you may take leaves and other yard debris to the Dan Davis Recycling Center located at 4001 Willamette Falls Drive. Call Dan Davis Recycling for hours, rates, and information (503) 655-1928 or visit their website http://www.plcrecycling.com/dan-davis.html Call West Linn Refuse & Recycling for curbside recycling information (503) 557-3900.

TIGARD

ALL ABOUT.....Portland.Oregon.Real Estate, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License. © Copyright 2008-2009 Betty Jung. All Rights Reserved. Use of this article, photos and images without permission is a violation of federal copyright laws.  Based on a Blog at WordPress.

(For more local and national real estate information, go towww.bettyjung.com)

Protecting Your Home From Another Portland Arctic Blast

This past weekend, we had quite the storm here in Portland. On Monday, we had an incredible day.  Weren't all the Fall colors absolutely phenomenal?  Today's to be a repeat!  However, last weekend, local forecasters were meeting to discuss what our winter would be like.  None of the weathermen seemed to agree.  Their predictions for this year ran the gamut from lots of snow like last year to very little snow.

If you've already forgotten the six days last winter during our Arctic Blast, Oregon and southwest Washington saw anywhere from 6 inches to 22 inches of snow. It was, according to the National Weather Service, the largest snowfall the region had seen in 40 years. And the 18.9 inches of snow in Portland made it the snowiest December in nearly 70 years.  Last year's winter weather was clearly influenced by La Niña, the periodic cooling of the tropical Pacific Ocean surface that tends to create colder, wetter winters for the Northwest.

The typical barrage of winter storms that hit Seattle and Portland may or may not occur this winter.  Kinda of like economic predictions, no one knows for sure.  The current El Niño is likely to fade and may not have as big a role in this winter's overall weather pattern than during a typical El Niño year. Other factors are pointing to a winter very similar to that of 2002-2003. 

Old Man Winter isn't too far away.  It's important that you begin to winterize your home before winter arrives to prevent weather damage. If you fail to act in time, you may be in for some hefty repair bills. As the saying goes: an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.  Here are some tips:

• Clean the Gutters

• Insulate Pipes

To protect your pipes, wrap and insulate them with heating tape. Check for leaks and cracks so that minor repairs can be made before Jack Frost causes major damage.  Had this happen in 1996 when my house flooded because of a frozen pipe.  Don't want that to happen again either.

• Trim Tree Branches

Winter storms can pack quite a punch, sometimes powerful enough to knock down tree branches and other debris. Trim branches that hang over your home or that look as though they may snap.

• Insulate Your Home

Cut heating costs this winter by checking the insulation in attics and basements. The Insurance Information Institute recommends that attics be kept 5 to 10 degrees warmer than the outside air to prevent snow from melting and re-freezing.

• Clean Out Chimneys, Furnaces, Boilers and Heaters

Before winter arrives, have your chimney, boiler or furnace checked. Servicing them once a year can prevent smoke and other damage to your home.  Make sure to keep your home's temperature at 65 degrees or higher to prevent pipes from freezing.

• Seal Windows and Doors

Make sure that your windows and doors are properly sealed by double-checking the weather stripping. Use weather stripping and caulking around windows and doors to prevent heat from escaping in cold months. This is also the time to put up storm windows, if necessary.

Here are some more tips from our Oregonian.

© Copyright 2008-2009 Betty Jung. All Rights Reserved. Use of this article, photos and images without permission is a violation of federal copyright laws.

ALL ABOUT.....Portland.Oregon.Real Estate by Betty Jung is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 United States License.
Based on a Blog at WordPress.

(For more local and national real estate information, go to www.bettyjung.com).

Blog Action Day - Global Climate Change

Today is the day when all bloggers are uniting to remind folks to make a difference and to helping in reducing their carbon footprint. Climate Change - Blog Action day is today! 

"More than any other country, action taken by the United States to limit greenhouse gases and build a clean energy economy is needed to achieve a sustainable solution to our global climate crisis.

This December world leaders will gather in Copenhagen to negotiate a global response to climate change. As a world leader in greenhouse gas pollution as well as clean energy technology, the United States needs to take bold action by implementing comprehensive clean energy policies to curb emissions.

Nobel Peace Prize Winner and President Barack Obama has said that climate change is an urgent threat, and now is the time for him to lead the United States in confronting the climate crisis.

This is a chance for people around the world and in the United States to join together in telling President Obama that we want him to lead the United States in taking bold and significant action to reduce greenhouse gasses.

Time is running out, and our planet can't afford to wait."

If you want ways to reduce your carbon footprint and want some "green" ideas, check out some of my past blog posts in my green and recycling category.

For "green" construction and building products, here are some sites mentioned by the Housing Guru:

www.energy.gov – U. S. Department of Energy

www.energystar.gov – joint program of EPA and DOE to certify energy standards

www.usgbc.org - U. S. Green Building Council

www.nahb.org – National Association of Homebuilders

www.eia.doe.gov – Energy Information Administration

www.epa.gov – U. S. Environmental Protection Agency

www.pathnet.org – Public-Private Partnership for Advancing Housing Technology

www.repp.org – Global Energy Marketplace

www.greenseal.org – promotes manufacture, purchase, and use of eco-friendly products

www.awea.org – American Wind Energy Association

www.ases.org – American Solar Energy Society

www.globalgreen.org – non-profit organization that sets environmental certification standards

www.nsf.org – not-for-profit testing laboratory

www.dsireusa.org – The Database of State Incentives for Renewable Energy

If you want to know what your carbon footprint is, you can calculate it here.

Make a difference, starting today.

© Copyright 2008-2009 Betty Jung. All Rights Reserved. Use of this article, photos and images without permission is a violation of federal copyright laws.

ALL ABOUT.....Portland.Oregon.Real Estate by Betty Jung is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 United States License.
Based on a Blog at WordPress.

(For more local and national real estate information, go to www.bettyjung.com).

Tigard Recycle Fest

Recycling has been around for a very long time but it became popular in the '70s with homes recycling glass, plastic and metal. However recycling actually started long before that time. There was recycling during World War II when Americans recycled metals by the ton. During the depression era in the '30s housewives recycled flour sacks into dish towels, pillowcases, aprons and even into children's clothing. And paper has been recycled in Britain for over 90 years.  Now with computers, modems, monitors, etc. we're into a totally different type of recycling.

© Copyright 2008-2009 Betty Jung. All Rights Reserved. Use of this article, photos and images without permission is a violation of federal copyright laws.

ALL ABOUT.....Portland.Oregon.Real Estate by Betty Jung is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 United States License.
Based on a Blog at WordPress.

(For more local and national real estate information, go to www.bettyjung.com).

Renovating? Remodeling? A New Lead Base Paint Law

If you're thinking of remodeling, renovating, painting or doing some repair work you need to know about HB 2134.

I've written two posts (here's Part 1) about lead poisoning and the effects of lead.  There was new information that surfaced in Part 2 of my post that some of the homes built in the 1980s in certain areas contain lead and not just in homes built prior to 1978.

Now comes HB 2134  just recently passed and signed by the Governor into law.  This new legislation requires anyone who performs renovations on target housing or child-occupied facilities with lead base paint to be:

• certified by the Department of Human Services and
• licensed as a lead base paint renovation contractor by the C.C. B. (Contractor Construction Board). 

 This law will become effective January 1, 2010.

What Renovation means:

• The modification of any existing, or part of a structure, that results in the disturbance of paint and includes modifications of painted doors, sanding, scraping and other activities that may generate paint dust including the removal of walls, ceilings, major re-plumbing and window replacements.

What Target Housing means:

• Includes most housing constructed prior to 1978.

What Child-Occupied Housing Means:

• A building, house, or portion of a building, constructed prior to 1978, visited regularly by the same child, six years of age or under, on at least two different days within any week including day-care centers, pre-schools, and kindergarten classrooms.

To obtain more information on this new law here's the link.

© Copyright 2008-2009 Betty Jung. All Rights Reserved. Use of this article, photos and images without permission is a violation of federal copyright laws.

ALL ABOUT.....Portland.Oregon.Real Estate by Betty Jung is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 United States License.
Based on a Blog at WordPress.

(For more local and national real estate information, go to www.bettyjung.com).