Thursday, March 31, 2011

Kitchen Tips For Energy Efficiency

The phrase "home enegry efficiency" causes most of us to think about triple paned windows and Energy Star appliances.  What about those of us who are still cooling our soda in a avacado colored refrigerator and peering our through single paned windows?  What can we do to help keep our energy bills low?  Here are a few tips that may help. 

Check your refrigerator seal. One of the most important factors in refrigerator efficiency is the condition of the seal. Check it regularly looking for cracking, splits, lose seals and drying.  If it isnt in good condition, replace it. This is a very inexpensive repair and can make a big difference.  Call your local appliance repair man.
Stop refrigerator gazing: We all do it.  Stand with the door open trying to decide what to eat-or drink while we are cooling the entire kitchen and part of the living room. Usually the longer you look, the less likely it is that you will make a good choice anyway.  Figure out what you want BEFORE you open the door and then just get it and be finished.
Allow food to cool.  Before putting food into the refrigerator after dinner, let it cool for a time on the counter.  This will keep your appliance from having to work harder to cool the food and make your bills longer.

These are all small things that will seem to make very little difference by themselves, but together they will help reduce your bills and increase the efficiency of your home.........

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Spring!!!!

Take a look around.  There are starting to be signs of spring-a very heartwarming thing in deed!  Real estate has been unusually active through the late fall and winter months and appears as though it will continue on into the warmer weather.  The activity has tended to be in the lower price ranges and mostly centered in La Grande and Island City, but as we move more into spring, the outlying areas should also feel some long awaited activity.  Look for some new loans that are becoming available again-mfd homes on property and construction loans to name a couple.  Check with your favorite lender for details and availability.  We are excited to be of service to our current and future clients and encourage you to come by and see what we can offer.  Yay!!!  It's spring!!!!!!