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Money-saving DIY home improvements get a 'Boost'
Designed to take 'the mystery and complexity out of how you can save water, energy and money,' Boost Boxes offer a bounty of DIY home improvement products.
Tue, Nov 09 2010 at 6:01 PM
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Images: BoostHome
As you may have read, early today Joe Biden announced plans for an ambitious and much-needed home energy efficiency program called HomeEnergyScore. At the heart of the program are low-cost visits from a home energy auditor.
Explains the HomeEnergyScore website:
A home energy assessor will collect energy information during a brief home walk-through and then score that home on a scale of 1 to 10. A 10 would represent a home with excellent energy performance whereas a 1 would represent a home that needs extensive energy improvements or energy upgrades. The home energy assessor will provide the homeowner with a list of recommended energy improvements and the associated cost savings estimates as well as the Home Energy Score.
If a homeowner does decide to follow up with the recommend energy improvements, federal loans (the maximum is $25,000) are available to those who quality through the FHA PowerSaver program.
While the program sounds nothing short of agreeable, it may prove daunting to those with less than stellar credit, those who tend to shy away from bureaucratic paperwork, and those who aren’t looking to invest thousands of dollars on “big” energy-saving home improvements. So that said, it’s not a program for everyone.
But wait ... Jetson Green recently featured a new Bay Area-based company, Boost Home, that produces money-saving, eco-friendly home improvement kits that are decidedly more appropriate for the types of homeowners described above as well as those who don't own their homes. I’ve seen similar DIY home improvement kits before but can’t say I’ve seen anything quite as comprehensive yet simple as the Boost Boxes concept. And with the holidays around the corner, I can’t say I’ve come across a better passive-aggressive (okay, just aggressive) “Dad, you really need to watch your energy and water use” type of gift.
The boxes, which aren’t all energy conservation-centric, range from $48 for a Toilet Boost Box to $188 for Whole Home Energy Boost Box that includes over 14 goodies ranging from CFL bulbs to a programmable thermostat. Also in the Boost Box arsenal is a Shower Boost Box, a Garden Water Boost Box, a Whole Bath Boost Box, a Kids Room Boost Box, a Window and Door Boost Box, a Home Office Boost Box, and a Whole Home Water Boost Box. Or, if you'd prefer, you can mix and match from various products and build your own customized Boost Box.
Claim the folks from Boost Home:
A boost box is a set of easy to install simple to use products that help you boost your savings and home performance. Each of the 9 boost boxes are put together as kits, taking the mystery and complexity out of how you can save water, energy and money. The boost box is filled with the best products, installation instructions, savings information, simple at home audits, and more.
Boost Boxes are available directly through the Boost Home website and select retailers. Would you invest — or gift — in a Boost Box?
[Via Jetson Green]
The opinions expressed by MNN Bloggers and those providing comments are theirs alone, and do not reflect the opinions of MNN.com. While we have reviewed their content to make sure it complies with our Terms and Conditions, MNN is not responsible for the accuracy of any of their information.
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This is such a good idea! I've been doing a lot of DIY home improvement, and this would help me so much!
I think these are great, beautiful design and seems very easy to use.
I'll get some a gifts for my family this year...
I just don't get doing this stuff on your own when you can use sites like http://bubbahome.com to get cheap bids from contractors on your projects.
Even cheap contractors will still charge you for their time and labor, and I think the point here is that you can do it easily yourself. Seems overkill to hire somebody to screw on a showerhead....