Greenville Magazine - April 2008 - (Page 50) Low Country Retreat Westminster, South Carolina In addition to smaller changes you can make around your home, tax breaks and government rebates offer homeowners incentives to go green. In South Carolina, taxpayers can claim a credit of 25 percent of the costs (up to $3,500) on the purchase of a solar-energy system for heating water, space heating, air cooling or generating electricity in a building they own. There’s also a sales tax cap of $300 for the purchase of a home that meets state environmental standards. Figure out if it’s time for an appliance trade-up You may think you can’t afford to drop the cash on a new appliance, but if you look at how much energy you’re saving, you can’t afford not to! To determine the efficiency of any appliance, look on the back or the inside of the item for a plate that shows the wattage. Though many items don’t display the actual wattage, they will show the voltage and the amperage, and volts x amps = watts. Using this information, you can figure out how much energy the appliance or electronic device uses during one hour of operation and, consequently, how much it costs to run. Use this formula to estimate an appliance’s energy use: Wattage × Hours Used per Day ÷ 1000 = Daily Kilowatt-hour (kWh) consumption Nestled in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains and along Lake Hartwell, this lush country of LOW COUNTRY RETREAT offers Cottage and Estate Lots. There are 118 acres with an Equestrian Center, 9 hole/3 par golf course, community docks, and guest lodge with chef privileges. One can find themselves walking or riding over the 10 miles of the riding trails then gathering fruit or vegetables from the onsite gardens. One can go boating in their personal boat or the classic wooden estate boat of Low Country. Come see, visit, and invest in your future. Cottage & Estate Lots with acres of common grounds Cottage Lots $300,000 to $550,000 Estate Lots 2 to 5 acres $100,000 per acre For example, if your dishwasher runs at 300 watts, and you use it one hour every day – (300 watts x 1 hour/day x 365 days/ year ÷ 1000) = 109.5 kWh x 8 cents/kWh (about what Duke energy charges most Greenville residents) = $8.76/year Offered by LM the Real Estate Firm, Inc Hartwell, Georgia The newer, energy-efficient appliances use lower wattages, decreasing your overall cost for the year. Find out how much your new appliance will cost you annually, then compare that to the cost of running your current appliance. Even if the newer appliance is expensive, you might be saving yourself more in the long-run. For more information on how you can save, visit these Web sites: www.dsire.org, www.epa.gov and www.energystar.gov. (706) 376-6063/436/6696 50 Greenville MaGazine | april 2008 http://www.dsire.org http://www.epa.gov http://www.energystar.gov
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