Make Smarter Home Improvement Choices, Save Energy And Money

(NAPSA)-Each year, homeowners spend more than a hundred billion dollars on home improvement and home repair projects. Now, they can make sure that their home improvement investments pay back.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has developed the ENERGY STAR¨ Home Improvement Toolbox, an interactive Web site to help homeowners make smart home improvements that save energy and money, year after year. The Home Improvement Toolbox provides practical advice and resources for homeowners, whether they are undergoing extensive renovations, looking for energy-efficiency improvements or searching for new products for their homes.

The Home Improvement Toolbox can be found online at www .energystar.gov/home improvement.
The Toolbox encourages homeowners to:

Put their homes to the test. Find out how your energy use at home compares to that of other U.S. households with the Home Improvement Toolbox. Just enter simple information about your home to determine if it rates high or low on efficiency. If your home receives a score of five or less, it may be time to consider making some improvements.

Optimize home improvement decisions. Determine the most effective improvements for your home online. The Toolbox provides answers to 15 questions resulting in a customized, printable report of potential home improvements, ranked by their ability to improve energy efficiency and impact energy bill savings.

Enhance remodeling projects with energy-efficient features. From a kitchen overhaul to a bathroom quick fix, the ENERGY STAR Home Improvement Toolbox offers energy-saving solutions for many popular remodeling or renovation projects. Select projects of interest to you and find hints on where to include energy-efficient features and products in your home improvement plans.

Find solutions to common household problems. Problems like uncomfortably hot, cold or drafty rooms, high energy bills and the growth of mold and mildew are often the result of energy inefficiencies. The Toolbox offers solutions that not only help fix the problem, but also help you save energy, save money and increase your family's comfort.

The Home Improvement Toolbox is part of ENERGY STAR, an EPA-sponsored national program that asks Americans to make a change for the better through energy efficiency. The ENERGY STAR label can now be found on more than 35 types of products for homes and businesses, including heating and cooling equipment, appliances, home electronics, computers, lighting and even new homes.

Because the typical home causes more greenhouse gases than the typical car, homeowners can make a difference for the future by choosing ENERGY STAR products and practices. Last year alone, ENERGY STAR helped Americans save enough energy to power 10 million homes and reduce greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to that of 12 million cars.

To learn more about ENERGY STAR, visit www.energystar.gov.

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