Calculate the coverage you need on the house itself. Homeowners insurance pays what it will cost to rebuild your house. You can arrive at this amount by multiplying your home’s square footage by the building cost per square foot for homes in your local area. Get this number from realtors, local homebuilders’ associations, and insurance agents. Be sure to check on the building cost number each year, as it can change, leaving you with inadequate coverage. Some insurance agents have software that will help you estimate your coverage needs.

Make sure your home’s contents are adequately covered. Check your policy to see if you have “full replacement value” coverage for your home’s contents. If you don’t, the insurance company can give you a pro-rated value for these items — a reduced amount that accounts for age and wear. In any case, valuable items such as jewelry, art, and antiques should be insured for their actual replacement value on a separate rider. You pay more for this coverage, but you will get full value for the item in case of a covered loss.

Take photos and videos of your home and contents. Cover every nook and cranny and put the pictures and videos in a safe deposit box. You might also save them online. Then if you have a loss, you have proof of the quality and condition of your home and its contents before the disaster.

Ask about premium discounts. There are many ways insurers discount their annual premiums. Higher deductibles or a good credit rating can earn you discounts. Purchasing your auto insurance from the same company may reduce premiums. Discounts can also come from: smoke detectors, sprinkler systems, fire extinguishers, being over 55 or a longtime policy holder, security alarms connected to an outside service, or hurricane shutters. But don’t let price be your only concern. First and foremost, make sure you’re dealing with one of the reputable, reliable insurers operating in your area.

Indianapolis, IN, June 30, 2010: The Indiana Department of Insurance wants to remind Indiana Consumers to be wary of contractors who may look to take advantage of them during the difficult times following storm damage to their homes or businesses.

The Department suspects some contractors may make promises of greater claim payments from insurance companies if the consumers agree to sign a contract with them. These contractors would violate state law by promising to negotiate claim settlements on behalf of consumers. In order for a third party to negotiate a settlement, they must be licensed by the Department as a public adjuster. These public adjusters charge a fee, either as a flat rate or as a percentage of the settlement amount, to negotiate with the insurance company on behalf of consumers.

If a contractor makes any promises regarding negotiating with an insurance company, the Department encourages consumers to ask for their public adjuster’s license number. Alternatively, consumers can contact the Indiana Department of Insurance at 800-622-4461 to verify whether or not the contractor is licensed as a public adjuster.

Consumers should also be aware that hiring a public adjuster does not guarantee a greater payment amount on a claim. In fact, the public adjuster still gets paid, by the consumer, regardless of whether or not he or she is able to secure a greater claim settlement. This can possibly mean less money for the insured. Consumers should understand and consider what it is they are paying for before entering into any contract with a licensed public adjuster.

A few other helpful tips:
• Always read all documents provided by a contractor before signing any contract.
• Do not give a contractor power of attorney.
• Do not allow a contractor to inspect your property when you are not present.
• Do not pay a contractor in full until all work has been completed.
• Pay contractors by check or credit card (not in cash) so there is a record of the transaction.
• Beware of contractors who use high pressure sales tactics.

-          Are they certified by NADCA or the IICRC?

-          What type of machinery or equipment is used to perform the work?  Typically a “Whip and Blast” system with a high powered vacuum or the “Roto-Brush” would be adequate.

-          Does the company provide before and after pictures of the ductwork?  Pictures empower the homeowner with a piece of mind that the work is being done properly.

-          How long will they be at my house?  In order to do a good job, the average residential air duct cleaning takes two technicians anywhere from 4 – 8 hours.

-          Are they using chemicals?  There is no magical fogging or sanitizing agent that will rid your ductwork of contaminants.  It must be agitated under negative pressure, then lightly sanitized vent by vent.

According to the National Air Duct Cleaning Association, if you have your ducts professionally cleaned and sanitized, you should not have to have it done again for 6 to 8 years.  Think twice about hiring a company to clean your ductwork for $100 – $200.  For good workmanship, expect to pay anywhere from $400-$600.

Indoor Air Quality- Indoor Air Quality or IAQ has become a buzzword in the HVAC industry. Sometimes buzzwords come about from marketing or misinformation but here there is a legitimate need, as homes are tightening up pollutants are trapped in the home. Older homes are ventilated naturally, but at the cost of comfort and efficiency. Indoor air starts as outdoor air and becomes “dirtier” from pollutants in the home, ventilation removes dirty air and dilutes the existing air.

Common sources.
Excess moisture. High humidity can lead to condensation which can lead to mold.
Chemicals. Paint thinners, cleaning products, insecticides such.
Building Products. Most newer products contain chemicals from their production like glues or formaldehydes.
Pets. Dirt dust and dander
Smoke. Candles smoking or even deep frying let off contaminates that hinder breathing.

Energy Savings- The issue is air is coming in whether you want it to or not, any home exhausts a certain amount of air through bath fans, kitchen exhaust hoods, water heaters, older furnaces or one pipe furnaces, stack effect from leaky can lights, hvac boots, attic hatches or clothes dryers. All the air that leaves will be replaced through cracks, outlet boxes, open doors, or far worse a back drafting water heater flue. Since that air is coming in our goal should be to control it. Mechanical ventilation allows us to bring it into the duct system where it will be conditioned and filtered before coming into the living area. Some types of equipment have heat exchangers that pull the heat out of air before it is exhausted.

Comfort. By controlling where the air come in we reduce drafts and cold spots.

Safety. We know as our homes vent or exhaust air the air needs to be replaced, this is a condition called negative pressure. The safety concern comes when a home has a fire place or b-vent water heater that begins back drafting from the negative pressure. If air is being introduced through the b-vent when the water heater fires the exhaust gases will spill from the draft diverter allowing co2 into the house. mechanical ventilation reduces this condition. Regardless of your situation you must have co2 detectors in your home.

May is rushing out and June is blowing in here in NW Indiana and that means your lawn is about to get stressed. June can be a microwave, July an oven, and August a pressure cooker — all working together to destroy your little patch of green lawn love. It’s nothing new, however … summer always creates negative pressure for turf grasses around here, and there are a few things you can do that will easily help your lawn stand up green and happy all through the hottest months.

What Are Summer Lawn Stresses
There are many factors that can cause your lawn to brown or thin out during the summer, and here are the major ones.
1) Drought stress (lack of soil moisture for extended periods)
2) Insect pressure (grubs, chinch bugs, sod webworm)
3) Disease (caused by fungus in soil or in crowns and blades, sometimes weather related)
4) Heat stress (just too hot for the cool season grasses we have here, regardless of soil moisture)
5) Foot traffic (too many bean bag tournaments and beer spills in the front lawn)

These lawn pressures or stresses are unavoidable in many cases but there are a few things you can do to hedge your bets; so to speak.
Here are the simplest ways to keep your lawn healthy and vigorous all summer in spite of lawn stress.

1) Mow Tall All Summer — If you follow my Crown Point Blog, then you know that I am constantly reminding you guys to mow tall. When hen I say “mow tall,” I’m talking like 3.5″ or more — and for many of you this is your lawn mower’s max setting. If you mow tall, you’ll get used to the look eventually, and your lawn will thank you. Mowing tall keeps grass crowns (where the blades grow from) cooler, keeps soil moisture from evaporating so quickly, and allows consistent photosynthesis.

2) Water Right — I know your water is expensive, but it’s worth the price to keep your turf happy. Really though, you only need to water twice per week in the summer if you keep the waterings deep and consistent. It is much better to water deep and infrequent than to water daily and lightly. There are lots of reasons for this, but the main one is that a deep watering (1/2″ per sprinkling) soaks water down to where the grass roots are, causing them to stay deep where they are able to support healthy top growth. Light waterings, on the other hand, cause the roots to turn upwards and stay shallow where they can be dried out in the hot sun.
You also MUST water in the morning to avoid fungus buildup over the hot summer evenings.

3) Use The Right Fertilizer — Keeping your lawn properly fertilized is not just a cosmetic issue. Sure, I like green/blue grass as much as anybody, but the nutrients in fertilizer are truly designed to support your lawns photosynthesis and water consumption. To keep it simple, you want a nice balance of nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus that is delivered in a slow release formulation. I personally prefer to get my lawn nitrogen from an organic source such as Milorganite or Corn Gluten.

I know those were some super simple tips, but sometimes it’s the simple things that help relieve the stress; both on you, and your lawn! Good luck!

1. 5-2 refers to how the days are allocated for programming. The 5-2 is the most basic of the programmables. The days are are lumped together for programming Mon-Fri and Saturday/Sunday. The programming for a basic 5-2 allows for 4 change points throughout the day: wake, leave, return and bed. Most folks have regular schedules through the week allowing for uniform changes of temperature. A sample day might be Mom waking up at 5:30 to start everyone on their day. So for the “wake” setting we would set the time at 5:15 and the temperature to 71 degrees. By 7:45 everyone is dressed fed and out the door so we could put the “leave” setting at 7:30 and 60 degrees. The kids begin getting home at 4:00 to the “return” setting set at 66 degrees. And finally bed time at 10:00, with the “bed” setting at 9:30 and 60 degrees. Saturday and Sunday will generally have a “wake” and “bed” setting. Don’t worry about catching the occasional chill…all programmables that I’ve seen have an override function that allows change of temperature until the next scheduled program. Theses units are available at most home centers for about $30 and are very easy to change.

2. 7-day stats allow individual programming by day not week. These are great for anyone with a varying schedule in that it allows more control of the programming. Other than that, it works just like the 5-2.
Just plan on more time in programming and spending about $75. Installation will be the same as a 5-2.

3. Adaptive recovery. These are installed and programmed the same as the 7-day. The difference is that the adaptive thermostat will “learn” your house and HVAC system. How? Simple. With the 5-2, if you wake up at 5:30 and the stat changes at 5:30 your house will be 60 degrees. The adaptive unit will start the furnace in the middle of the night and raise your house temp one degree so it “learns” how long it will take to reach your “wake” setting. At 5:30 when you roll out of bed the house is where you want it. This is really nice during the hottest days of summer. Instead of coming home to a hot house with a struggling A/C you arrive to your desired temperature.
Plan on spending about $125 for one.

4. Evolution style. Evolution is the name Bryant gives its top of the line system. These are whole house controllers running temperature, humidity, and indoor air quality equipment. Carrier and Honeywell both make similar systems. These units are installed with all new equipment by dealers and are unavailable to homeowners at this time.

5. Savings. Estimating savings earned with programmables is difficult. I have heard as much as 3% per degree below 70 degrees, which I find unlikely. A total of 3-4% is much easier to believe. For about a $100  and an hours time, even at  the low end of the estimation programmable thermostats will have a quick payback.

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