You can learn a lot from these electric co-op members who have built high efficiency homes.

Buying or building a home or investing in upgrades to an existing home brings on some of the most critical and important decisions a homeowner can make.

Outside of the mortgage loan, heating and cooling is the highest cost of owning a home. But according to Energy Efficient Homes Midwest (EEHM) and other experts, it is now possible to reduce your home’s energy use by one-third using cost-effective, readily-available technologies and building practices.

And, getting a home energy rating can help. Think of it as similar to checking the miles-per-gallon sticker on a new car. It can help you afford a better quality, more comfortable, and environmentally-friendly home for less money, and qualify you for a more favorable mortgage loan.

A home energy rating, such as those provided by Energy Star, measures and indicates the efficiency of a new or existing house, and compares it’s energy performance against the best possible for that structure. Ratings are 1-100 points, and 1-5 stars.

Although energy ratings are applied to new homes, an energy rating can be used to evaluate and pinpoint specific, cost-effective improvements for existing homes, too.

Getting a rating involves having a professional home energy rater inspect your home and measure its energy characteristics, such as insulation levels and window and heating/cooling system efficiencies, and giving it a number rating. The Energy Star Five-star rating, which the homeowners profiled on these pages qualify for, is the highest and stands for “extremely efficient.” While the homes of all the people profiled qualify for Five-star, not all of them chose to get the actual certification, which can cost $300-$500.

Energy Star homes are at least 30 percent more energy efficient in heating, cooling, and water heating, are more durable and cost less to own.

Typical technologies and practices that builders use in Energy Star-qualified new homes include tight construction (reduced air infiltration), tight ducts, improved insulation, high performance windows, and energy efficient heating and cooling equipment.

There are also grants and financial incentives available, such as the Energy Star Home Grant Program, which some of the people on these pages took advantage of. Don’t forget that local builders who specialize in energy efficient homes are another good resource.

A Five-star rating qualifies a house for the Energy Star designation.

The Simonettas

Reduce, re-use, and recycle” is a motto that Christine and Sam Simonetta live by, right down to the kitchen sink. “We re-use a lot of things, and the kitchen sink is even third-generation,” says Sam. “My wife’s father was bathed in that sink, and the support beam in the basement is salvaged from the Mackinac Bridge.”

Located near Deerton, their home (pictured above) is a certified Five-star energy efficient home with one of the highest Home Energy Rating System scores (93.4 percent) in Michigan.

“We believe we need to serve nature this way, by not using so many resources and doing things as efficiently as we can,” explains Sam.

They have only lived in the house since August, so are unsure what a full heating season will cost, but he anticipates using only 500 gallons of propane per year.

“The other thing is, we do have a wind turbine…,” he adds. “We were running it all summer and got an average of 75 percent of our electricity from the wind turbine.” The rest of their electricity comes from Alger Delta Cooperative, of Gladstone.

However, the main features that help them save money are good insulation and windows. The walls are panels that are almost solid insulation, and the roof has a nontoxic foam insulation that expands after it’s sprayed-in.

Make sure you get good windows, Sam says, as that’s where most of the heat is lost.

A small propane boiler (92 percent efficiency) heats their home and water, and they take advantage of “natural” heating since the house and most of its windows face south to let in the sun’s rays.

The couple built this type of home to save money, but they also wanted comfort and beauty. “You can have fun with creativity and beauty while being energy efficient,” Christine adds. “Saving energy doesn’t have to be sterile.”

One of her favorite features is the Finnish soapstone stove in the living room. “It has an even radiating heat. Soapstone holds heat longer and gives it off slower,” she says. Even the colors you choose for a room can help store heat, she adds.

And, they both like the home’s in-floor radiant heat. “It’s an efficient way to heat because heat stays in your living space instead of drifting up to the ceiling,” he says.

The Simonettas earned a $7,000 grant from the Michigan Five-star Home Grant Program towards building the home. The grant requires them to spend $3,000 of it on promoting the building of energy efficient homes, so they will maintain a Web site that answers energy efficiency questions and are creating a DVD on energy efficient things they did in the house. It’s supposed to end in a year, but the Simonettas opted to do it longer and allow people to tour their home.

For a tour, call Northern Options (906-226-1136) a group that promotes energy efficiency

“It’s that U.P. spirit,” Christine says, “You make the most of using things when you’re a little more removed from things.”

The Cains

For the Cain family of Vassar, building a Five-star energy home meant affording more space and finding better health.

“I have really bad allergies and used to have shots every week, and I don’t even get those now,” says Melissa. She credits her good fortune mostly to their home’s air exchange system, which keeps the air circulated and refreshed. “It’s also nice because the air gets filtered and isn’t stagnant, so if one of us is sick, the others usually don’t get it. We always turn on the system when someone in the house is sick.”

They were also able to have a larger home (4,200 square feet) with tall ceilings and windows because of its energy efficiencies. The thicker, well-insulated walls make it more soundproof and quiet, too.

Their basement is also more attractive and livable, with daylight windows, wood walls, and insulation under the cement flooring, which keeps it warmer.

Picking a reputable builder is key to getting a good, energy efficient home, Michael adds. He first heard about Five-star homes from his builder, Carl Terwilliger of Davison.

“At first I thought the cost was kinda high (for a more energy efficient home), but after you see everything you get, it’s well worth it,” Michael says. He also knows people who built less efficient homes and are now pouring more money into them for upgrades than it would’ve cost originally.

“Another thing I do like is that you never turn the thermostat up or down—night or day—you never touch it all winter,” Michael adds. It has a two-stage setting which comes on low, and if it doesn’t reach the set temperature it kicks on to the high stage. “We don’t get up to a cold house, and it stays at 73 all winter,” he says. And, even for a home this large, they average about 700-750 gallons of propane per year for heating.

The Cains get their electric service from Thumb Electric Cooperative.

The Clarks

Unlike many people, Bill and Lynette Clark, of Buckley, aren’t worried about their home heating costs this winter. In fact, they look forward to seeing how low their heating bills will be. That’s because they live in a new home with a Five-star energy efficiency rating.

The Clarks have spent one winter in their 1,800-square-foot home, which averages about $61 per month to heat.

This type of home costs a little more to build initially, but Bill says, “I think the investment’s worth it, and I got a grant from the state towards my house.” The grant was for $8,000, and Clark, a builder himself, used $5,000 towards a geothermal heating and cooling system. The remaining $3,000 was spent, as required, on promoting the building of energy efficient homes.

Clark’s neighbors built a home at the same time and are worried about this year’s higher costs, because last winter they filled their 500-gallon fuel tank once a month.

The Clark home was designed using a computer program that can figure in the use of passive solar energy, including determining the right type of window glass and which direction the house should face to best store the sun’s heat. “On a sunny day, Bill says, “the heat won’t come on all day long, and comes on only later in the day when things start cooling off.”

People don’t realize that spending a little extra now on an energy efficient home will pay off in the future, Bill says. And, with renewed concerns about energy costs, “When you go to a bank now, they ask about what type of heating a house has.”

The Clarks get their electric service from Cherryland Electric Cooperative.

Molloron and Bailey

Erin Molloron and her fiancé, Brian Bailey, were lucky because the new house they bought last summer was already being built with Five-star energy efficient features.

And, since the house, in Mystic Hills subdivision near Adrian, was only half completed when the young couple was looking to buy, they were still able to get somewhat involved in the process. “Brian’s parents build their own homes and they alerted us to be aware of energy efficiency features,” Erin says.

Erin figures their energy bills have averaged about $75 monthly, or not quite half of what others with similar-size homes are spending. “Although we haven’t hit the coldest months yet,” she adds.

“We wanted this type of home to help in lowering our bills,” she says. Especially after talking to a lot of friends who had older homes with higher energy bills and found themselves in a dilemma of: Do we pay this bill or another? “We decided to be safer ourselves,” she says.

And, while the money they’re saving is obviously a favorite feature, they like how warm the house feels. “There are no drafts in our home,” she explains, “It stays very warm and we don’t have to keep it at a high temperature to keep it warm.”

To others looking for energy efficient homes, Erin suggests, “When you’re going for big appliances, you’re going to go for the ones with the energy stickers on them, and you want good, double-pane windows.”

Their home was built by Dan Baker & Sons Construction (Adrian), and electric service is from Midwest Energy Cooperative.