When moving from an apartment to a rental home, you may notice your utility costs increase. Through your experience, you may decide that you enjoy living in a house enough to buy one with your family. Your primary concern may revolve around utility costs. An excellent solution is to learn about what you can do while house hunting to buy a home with minimal utility costs.

Two-Story Home

While looking at home listings, you may immediately notice differences, such as whether a place is one-story or two-story. Although you can get excellent energy efficiency with both types, you will likely find that two-story homes are the best fit to minimize utility costs.

Heat rising can give a one-story home an edge in this area because you can rely on even heating and cooling throughout the space. But two-story homes excel in other ways, such as having a smaller overall footprint, which means a smaller roof where temperature can transfer.

Another reason to prioritize two-story listings is the plumbing system length. Shorter pipes will reduce heat loss from water, saving you on utility costs.

Native Growth

Buying a place with non-native plants that demand a lot of water can lead to high water bills. These plants may require you to water them often because your climate's annual rainfall is not enough to keep them healthy and thriving. An easy solution is looking for home listings with mostly or entirely native growth, which will not require much or additional watering.

These landscapes may not even have an irrigation system because they are unnecessary. You can still enjoy a beautiful and lush landscape when prioritizing native growth. The key is to look through plenty of properties and prioritize ones with plants and trees you find attractive.

Interior Features

While looking at home listings, you want to pay attention to interior features to help you determine potential utility costs. For instance, you can find places with energy-efficient lighting and appliances that you will get to enjoy after buying the property and getting the keys.

Even flooring can make a clear difference in utility costs. Carpet in most rooms is worth considering for a cold climate as it will reduce your need to use heating in cold months. On the other hand, tile will help you stay cool and comfortable when buying in a warm climate.

Use these tips to buy a home for sale where you can feel confident about having minimized utility costs.

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