Everyone knows making cosmetic improvements to your home can increase the value of your home, whether it’s fresh landscaping, granite counter tops, or stainless steel appliances. These days, savvy homebuyers are also looking for more energy efficient homes.
A recent article on ECNmag.com, “Building Value with Energy-Saving Upgrades in Homes and Businesses,” discusses how “improving the energy performance of your home can make it more comfortable and attractive, increase its value, and help you save money on your energy bills.”
These days adding energy-saving components in your home, such as:
- Appliances
- Windows and doors
- Insulation
- Heating and cooling equipment
- Automated thermostats
can increase the value of your home and help attract more potential buyers.
According to the article, the Department of Energy recently announced a partnership with The Appraisal Foundation that will provide information about energy-efficiency and building performance information for commercial buildings. Through this partnership, appraisers will have access to the information they need to evaluate energy performance for building appraisals. It will help improve the availability of tools and data for appraisers so that they can accurately incorporate the value of energy-efficiency upgrades into a building’s appraisal.
Other additions that can help you save money on energy bills and potentially increase the value of your home are:
- Installing home lighting control or other home control systems to manage when home electronics are switched on and off.
- Installing energy monitors to monitor total energy consumption throughout the day, week, month, or year.
Check out the Energy Savers website for additional information on ways to save energy in your home, vehicle, or workplace.
This post is written in collaboration with our friends at Present Value LLC, a worldwide international appraisal and advisory company that provides a range of professional services such as Certified Machinery and Equipment Appraisals, Inventory Appraisals, Asset Verification Services, Business Valuations, and Real Estate Appraisals.
Certified Connection is the premier provider of custom-designed home control systems and home theaters to residential and commercial customers. For more than 10 years, Certified Connection has served homeowners and businesses in and around Boston, throughout the South Shore, and the entire Cape.
By: Certified Connection
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You may have the most killer audio/video setup ever conceived by man. You may have the most cutting-edge tech for the sharpest picture, the clearest sound, and the most immersive video gaming experience of your life. If you do, congratulations.
But is it all protected?
Especially in light of the numerous power outages and problems that people are dealing with post Hurricane Irene, this is an important topic. Two of the most potentially catastrophic things that can happen to – and potentially destroy – your electronic entertainment components are an overload and a surge. An overload occurs when there are too many power-drawing components plugged into the same outlet and there isn’t enough juice. A surge is a spike in the electricity being sent to the components, and it can totally fry everything. Surges are often caused by lightning strikes or downed power lines. Please check out our previous post for more information on potential power disturbances.
Luckily, a power surge protector can help protect all your electronic equipment from these types of problems. A power surge protector is a block of electrical sockets that attaches to the end of a flexible cable and allows multiple electrical devices to be plugged in. It has a built-in circuit breaker to protect your devices from surges and overloads. Most also have a self-contained power switch; this is handy if you need to power off all your components at once and don’t want to spend your whole day trying to unplug things; this also can help with energy draining vampire appliances.
But it’s important to keep in mind that not all power strips are the same. A $7.99 power strip is not going to provide the protection you need. You really need a power surge protector and they’re not all created equal. Some are designed for specific components, like computer equipment or home appliances.
Certified Connection offers solutions for home and business owners to limit or eliminate power quality disturbances.
Make sure you’re protecting your investment. Contact us at Certified Connection and we’ll help you choose the right power surge protector for all your needs.
Certified Connection is the premier provider of custom-designed home control systems and home theaters to residential and commercial customers. For more than 10 years, Certified Connection has served homeowners and businesses in and around Boston, throughout the South Shore, and the entire Cape.
By: Certified Connection
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Which electronic appliance do you think uses the most energy in your home? The air conditioner? The refrigerator? Guess again. It’s your cable or satellite DVR set-top box, according to a Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) report, “Reducing the National Energy Consumption of Set-Top Boxes.” Hard to imagine, but it’s true. This is because today’s cable boxes are basically running at full power all the time, even when switched off.

Vampire Electronics Are Costly for U.S. Households
Approximately 80 % of U.S. homes have set-top boxes, and in 2010, they consumed approximately 27 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity or the annual output of nine average coal-fired power plants. To think of it in another way, it’s equal to the annual household electricity consumption of the state of Maryland. The report estimates it costs households more than $3 billion each year to operate these devices.
What’s the Solution?
Unfortunately, these devices are a necessary evil in today’s world of entertainment technology. And right now, there isn’t a real solution to combat these silent energy suckers.
The report proposes that cable, satellite, etc. companies provide energy-efficient boxes that operate in low-power mode when switched off or comply with ENERGY STAR version 4.0 requirements, but this will only happen if consumers or the government demand it. And, this will take time.
What You Can Do
When you leave the house for long periods of time, like for vacation, disconnect your set-top box. This is also true for many other common household appliances, including your TVs, stereos, computers, monitors, and even your phone chargers – they are silently sucking electricity even when they’re not in use. Over time, this can significantly increase your electric bill. So, whenever possible, disconnect the devices you’re not using so that you don’t incur vampire electricity charges.
Certified Connection is the premier provider of custom-designed to residential and commercial customers. For more than 10 years, Certified Connection has served homeowners and businesses in and around Boston, throughout the South Shore, and the entire Cape.
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When it comes to shopping for electronics online, the old adage, “If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is,” definitely applies. There are seemingly endless numbers of great deals on electronics in the online marketplace, both for supposedly brand-spanking new or used components. But the problem is you just never know what you’re getting. Consumers succumb to too-good-to-be-true pitfalls every day, often with little recourse. Here are a few of the problems that you could encounter when purchasing electronics online.

1. It might not have a warranty – This is especially true for used equipment. But even if it’s brand-new merchandise, if you’re not buying the equipment from a reputable, manufacturer-certified dealer, there will be no warranty. This means that any repairs that have to be done will be paid for out of pocket. All the big manufacturers, including Crestron, Sony, Samsung, Sharp, Panasonic, etc. won’t do anything for you if you don’t have the correct paperwork.
2. It could be a fake – There are huge amounts of fake electronic merchandise floating around out there that look just as good as the real thing, just like knock-off jewelry, clothes, sunglasses, bags, and cosmetics, etc. There are also lots of bait-and-switch operations out there. You could get your equipment in the mail only to find out that it’s a hollow replica of what you intended to purchase.
3. It could be stolen – If you’re shopping online for electronics via an eBay- or craigslist-type service, there’s always the possibility that the highly discounted merchandise could be stolen. Do you really want to get wrapped up in some black market smuggling operation?
4. It doesn’t work – Many higher-end components, like those sold by Crestron, Control4, Lutron, Universal Remote, or RTI, require specialized programs in order for them to function that are accessible only to dealers. How disappointing would it be to get your equipment only to realize that you can’t do anything with it?
You should always make sure that you buy your electronic equipment from and work with a reputable dealer to make sure that you’re getting everything that you paid for and more.
Certified Connection is the premier provider of custom-designed home control systems and home theaters to residential and commercial customers. For more than 10 years, Certified Connection has served homeowners and businesses in and around Boston, throughout the South Shore, and the entire Cape.
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Certified Connection is offering a *FREE 30 day trial on
a Crestron Prodigy® Control System + Handheld Touchpanel
to selected participants.

Control your home from an Apple iPad
Requirements
- You have to live within 60 miles of Boston, MA.
- You have to be 25 year old or older.
- You have to own a recent: display, set top box (cable or satellite), an optical drive player (DVD or Blu-ray player), surround sound system not necessary.
- A valid major credit card.
Here is how this works
- We will come to your residence and customize a proposal which will fit your needs.
- We will install the system at no charge.
- We will program 1 system of your choice (living room, master bedroom, media room).
- We will program 4 video or audio sources (TV, cable or satellite set top box, DVD or Blu-ray player and an audio receiver.
- We will program 9 AM/FM or satellite radio favorite channels you will provide.
- We will program 9 TV favorite channels you will provide.
*What happens on day 30?
- You are satisfied with the product, you can purchase it at the price quoted when initially installed; (each installation is different and based on existing equipment and customer customization requirements).
- You get ONE FREE Crestron Mobile Pro® G license for your iPad/iPhone or iPod.
(Apple iPad/iPhone and iPod are NOT provided). The Crestron Mobile Pro® G license is provided ONLY after purchase.
- If you are NOT satisfied, we will pick up the equipment from your residence and reconfigure the system the way it used to be prior to our work. You owe us nothing.
- Equipment must be returned in the same condition it was delivered. Participant will be charged full price for any damage incurred during the 30 day trial.
Offer subject to eligibility requirements
This offer ends Feb. 28th. 2011.
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