Homeowner News – Page 13

As The Hurricane Approaches Wallingford

August 26, 2011 by admin

As you all know by now our area and a large part of the East Coast is under hurricane watches and warnings. While hurricanes are fairly common in the southern part of the country, it is a far rarer occurrence to have one hit the densely populated areas of the Northeast. My family and I are veterans of Hurricane Bob which struck Cape Cod 20 years ago last week. We were without power, refrigeration, and gasoline for 6 days, and there are many things we wished we had done ahead of time in preparation. Here are some things you can do to help protect yourself and your home from the storm.

– Assemble a disaster supply kit that includes bottled water, non-perishable food items, medical supplies, batteries and flashlights. Have a battery operated radio on hand to listen to news updates when the power goes out.

– Turn your refrigerator and freezer to the highest level, and fill several plastic containers with water and place them in the freezer. During this storm it is anticipated that there will be extensive power outages. The containers of frozen water will help keep the refrigerator colder during an electrical outage.

– Bring in outside furniture and other objects that could cause property damage in the event of high winds. This includes bird feeders and hanging baskets as well. I saw some pretty weird objects become airborne as hurricane force winds cranked up.

– Trash cans and recycling containers should be stored in a sheltered area.

– Fill the bathtub with water. This is not for drinking purposes, but with the prediction of 5 to 10 inches of rain water treatment plants could become inundated, and tap water may not be available. The stored water can be used to fill and flush toilets until water service is restored.

– Make sure there is gas in the car and you are ready to evacuate immediately if you are told to do so. If you do evacuate, do not go back home until local officials say it is safe.

– Be sure to stay indoors during a hurricane. Don’t be fooled if there is a pause in the wind. It could be the eye of the storm, and the winds will come again.

– Listen to a radio or television for weather updates and stay in touch with your neighbors about evacuation orders.

– Avoid using the phone except for an emergency so the phone lines can stay open for others. Fully charge your cell phone, and send text messages instead of making a phone call during the storm – text messages use less system resources, both on your phone and on the network.

There Are Many Losers In A Foreclosure

August 25, 2011 by admin

The effects of a foreclosure are far reaching, and the impact is felt by more than the family who is losing their home. Aside from the very real emotional impact of losing a home to foreclosure, there is significant economic to others as well.

Lender: According to a 2007 study by the The Joint Economic Committee of Congress, foreclosures carry an average cost of $77,935, The costs associated in preventing a foreclosure are estimated at $3,300. Most of estimated expense of $50,000 is shouldered by the lender, who takes title to the home. Standard & Poors estimates the cost of foreclosure at 26% of the loan amount on the property. Lost principal and interest payments, taxes, appraisal costs, insurance, maintenance, and selling expenses are components of this number.

Homeowners: The congressional report put the average cost to homeowners at $7,200 for lost equity, moving expenses, legal fees and the like. The credit score of the owner of a foreclosed property will also take suffer for years to come as a result. This could lead to higher future borrowing costs for the owner.

Local Government: Communities can lose anywhere from a few hundred dollars to more than $30,000 on foreclosed homes. That includes lost property taxes, unpaid utilities, and costs for upkeep of a property.

Neighbors: Particularly for close neighbors, studies show a single foreclosure can lower home value anywhere from 0.6 percent to 1.8 percent. The Center for Responsible Lending put the average neighbor dollar loss at $5,800 to $8,700. The community cost of a foreclosure is not only economic. A buyer’s perception of a neighborhood can suffer as a result, and can lead to lower sale prices.

In 2010 6.4% of Wallingford homes sold were Bank Owned Foreclosures. In comparison 11.8 % of Delaware County homes sold were reported as Foreclosures.

Nether Providence Switches Recycling Contractor

August 23, 2011 by admin

Beginning in January 2012 , a new firm, J. P. Mascaro & Sons headquartered in Audubon, PA, will be responsible for the township’s recycling program.

As the contract with the current contractor Suburban Waste Services is set to expire at year’s end, the commissioners had to make a decision on the program’s future.

The seven-member board had earlier ruled out bringing the program in-house once again or hiring a company to handle the weekly curbside pickups of co-mingled recyclables, as well as the collection of residential trash.

Those options being eliminated, the board had to choose among bidders for the recycling-only contract and did so at an early August meeting, selecting Mascaro, who was the low bidder, to handle the duties. The vote was 6 – 0 with one member abstaining due a conflict of interest.

The contract with Mascaro does not cover the provision of a dumpster for public use at the township public works yard on Brookhaven Road. The board will be addressing that issue in the future.

Currently Nether Providence Township residents pay residents pay a $68-per-year fee for the recycling service.

The Commissioners also discussed which size recycling container would work best for the program. The options of sizes discussed were 35, 48, and 65 gallon capacity containers. The township plans to make use of a $230,000 state grant it was awarded last year for its recycling program to purchase the new containers. A typical trash container is 34 to 48 gallons.

The board is inclined to recommend the use of the 65 gallon container, one reason being that studies have shown that larger containers encourage more recycling.

Temperatures Rise Over PECO Smart Saver A/C Program

July 25, 2011 by admin

Wallingford PA Real Estate - PECO Smart Saver DCU

PECO Smart Saver Digital Cycling Unit - Watch Out For The Red Light!

As temperatures reached record levels on Friday PECO declared a “conservation event” under which customers who have enrolled in the Smart Saver A/C program had their central air compressor units turned off via a radio signal. According to PECO this remote compressor shut down should only last approximately 50% of the previous hours run time. Customers should experience little or no discomfort in the air conditioned space.

In theory this sounds great, however my experience and several other people that I have spoken to had a vastly different experience on Friday. Upon my arrival home on Friday afternoon the thermostat read 85 degrees and I knew there was something amiss as soon as I entered the house. The fan was running but the compressor was silent. A half hour later I called my HVAC service company and the first thing they asked was I enrolled in the Smart Saver program. I was informed that by checking the exterior control unit for a red light you will know if PECO has taken control of your unit. Sure enough the red light was illuminated. My next call was to PECO and after 30 minutes of waiting I was told that there was an event in progress which would be in effect until 7:30 PM.

When I came back inside the temperature had risen to 87 degrees and was surely going higher, and the upstairs was especially uncomfortable. Back outside to watch the lights at 7:30 I saw two short green lights, and then the red light went off, and the compressor came on!

I have no idea when the interior temperature returned to the 78 degrees that the thermostat was set to, but we did not sleep upstairs Friday evening, and I think I heard the air running full blast until 4:30 AM.

I do not think this long cooling recovery saved offset any energy saved during the shutdown, and I hope that during the next “conservation event” the system works as promoted. I will keep my fingers crossed during the next hot spell.

Update – Tuesday July 26

I did receive a return call from PECO on Monday evening regarding the issues encountered on Friday and the phone call I placed then. I was told there were isolated incidents of equipment problems with some customers.

A technician came out to my house today and checked the Smart Saver equipment and stated all was in working order. So I am dubious about the next “conservation event” and what will happen.

Nether Providence Commissioners Halt Combined Trash/Recycling Effort

June 21, 2011 by admin

Nether Providence Township Commissioners have put the brakes on the prospects for a combined trash and recycling contract for the township. The vote was 4 to 3 along party lines, to include recycling only alternatives in a request for bids from companies.

A task force of citizen volunteers appointed to study the issue had urged the board to at least consider awarding a contract to a single firm that could perform the curbside collection of waste and recyclables, the idea being the move could result in economies of scale and lower costs.

When the board recently discussed sending out a request for proposals to potential contractors, GOP board members made it clear they did not want the combined trash-recycling approach to be an option.

Republican Commissioners instead voiced support for continuing on with the current system, which involves residents contracting with one of multiple trash haulers serving the municipality and a single firm — currently Suburban Waste services — handling the pickup of recyclables.

Commissioner Mike Dougherty repeated views he had expressed at previous meetings that he had heard no complaints about the existing trash-collection system. He said the focus should be on making the recycling program cheaper and better.

Under the township’s present contract with Suburban Waste, each household pays $68 annually for recycling pickups.

Among the recycling options to be considered are signing a new contract with Suburban Waste, hiring a new contractor or bringing the service in-house, with township public works employees doing the recycling collections. Before Suburban won the job, the curbside pickups were handled by municipal crews.

The vote came on the heels of a board decision in April to not ask residents about combined trash-recycling collections through a survey. The board’s four Republicans were not in favor of the survey, while its three Democratic members supported querying residents on the issue.

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S. Clark Kendus