More Bang for Your Buck: Build Smart

WSVN -- Three months ago, Calvin Daniels' family received the gift of a lifetime -- a new home.

Calvin Daniels: "I don't know if you have enough tape for that, but it meant a whole lot. For me, my wife and my kids, it meant a whole lot."

But his home is no ordinary house. It's actually built to help people save money, something that Calvin and his family are always trying to do.

Calvin Daniels: "It's important because once I get a little bit older, I'll have more stuff for my kids to have money or send them to college, all of that good stuff."

Russ Cubbin is a general contractor for Habitat for Humanity Homes and says each one was built with energy saving features, which will mean lower electric bills.

Russ Cubbin: "It saves them money on a monthly basis, and it will save them money as long as the house is up."

Habitat works with FPL to design the energy savers, including extra insulation.

Dave Chandler: "It's twice the amount of insulation that's required by code in the attic and in the walls."

This way, the hot attic doesn't warm up the cooled air.

Dave Chandler: "They've sealed the attic cavity from the rest of the home and dropped the duct work into this cavity."

Also, the homes have special central air units.

Dave Chandler: "Much higher energy efficient air conditioning systems are built into the home."

And that means big savings.

Dave Chandler: "If it costs less to keep their house cool in the summertime, they're going to save quite a bit of money."

Dave says these features can help anyone get more bang for their buck when it comes to electricity.

And for FPL, they're just glad to give back to those most in need.

Dave Chandler: "We want those who can least afford higher bills to take advantage of what we can offer them."

If you're already comfortable but still wondering how you can upgrade your own home, Dave says there are ways to save.

Dave Chandler: "The biggest impact on your electric bill is your lifestyle, and lifestyle is something you can change."

And if you need some extra help figuring out what you can change...

Dave Chandler: "We'll come out and do an energy audit. We'll do that right in your home."

Charles Billi: "You can log on to FPL's website to find other ideas of how you can make your home more energy efficient and also see what incentives there might be for you to do it."

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

FPL BuildSmart
http://www.fpl.com/residential/buildsmart/contents/buildsmart_home_buyer_information.shtml

Energy Saving Incentives
http://www.fpl.com/news/2006/081506c.shtml

Habitat for Humanity
www.habitat.org