What can home shows offer you as you build your custom home? (Part 4)

In What can home shows offer you as you build your custom home? (Part 2 & 3), we discussed various ways that a home show can help provide ideas and guidance as you build your custom home. In this article, we will continue to examine how some specific topics covered by venders at a home show can benefit you as you build your custom home.

Geothermal Savings

One of the most important questions new home builders must ask themselves is how they intend to heat or cool their new custom built home. There are many ways to heat and cool a home, from natural gas, propane, and electricity. Yet these energy sources can be expensive, and most are not environmentally friendly. Those who are unfamiliar with newer and more innovative methods will miss out on a plethora of new opportunities and cost-saving ways to heat and cool their home. A geothermal heat pump is a central heating and/or cooling system that pumps heat to or from the ground. Depending on the latitude, the temperature of the Earth's crust remains between 50 and 60 degrees. A heat pump is able to transfer that temperature to your home, keeping you cool in the summer and warm in the winter. These pumps can also augment your watering heating system, saving you even more money in the long run. Venders at a home show can discuss with you the benefits of using a geothermal heat pump or using traditional heating and cooling methods. Built Green Custom Homes has a great deal to offer, regarding energy saving methods as you build your custom home.

Sealed Combustion Furnace

Another method that people can use to heat their home is either a furnace or boiler. Furnaces heat air and distribute the heated air throughout the house using air ducts. Boilers heat water, and provide either hot water or steam for heating. Many large buildings still using old fashion boilers in the basement, and distribute the steam through pipes. These pipes then transfer the heat to radiators within the home or apartment. Heating the water is the easy part. Choosing how the water is heated can be the difference between energy and cost efficient and not. Although most electric furnaces are very efficient, the cost of electricity can become a problem. A Sealed Combustion Furnace can provide the same amount of heat to the home, without some of the more dangerous drawbacks traditional furnaces have, such as back draft. These devices are not connected to the interior of the home, and so it receives air from the outdoors only. A home show often brings venders who can demonstrate the different types of furnaces and boilers, and discuss the benefits and draw backs of using each one of these heating methods in your new home. Built Green Custom Homes can also help you with the installation of such devices, and can also provide information about these products to new home builders.

Again, finding the right venders to answer your specific questions is very important when you visit a home show. Doing a little homework before attending can mean more answers and less time wasted at the show.