When Tamee and George Simbles moved into their 3,100-square-foot home last week, they became the first family to reside in a new SRP ENERGY STAR Home. While house hunting, Tamee wanted to downsize to a single-story home “with less space to clean” but still needed a bonus room so her three boys had their own space, and energy efficiency topped her list.
“We moved from Austin, Texas, and our last two electric bills were $425 and our water bill was $425,” Simbles lamented. “We’ve lived here before and know bills can be expensive in the summer. We were looking to lower our bills and knew that we could.”
The Simbles have purchased five new homes in 18 years and knew precisely what they wanted. They found it at Maracay Homes’ Whispering Heights community at Lindsay and Chandler Heights roads in Chandler.
“When we saw what our average monthly bill would be for electricity, we were shocked. We are going to have so much savings,” Simbles added. “The average monthly bill should be almost half of what our old bill used to be.”
“SRP partners with local builders to help ensure the homes are built and certified to the ENERGY STAR level of energy efficiency,” said Debbie Kimberly, SRP’s Director of Customer Programs & Marketing. “While SRP has a long tradition of fostering higher efficiency in new homes, we recently partnered with the nationally recognized ENERGY STAR program to continue growing this initiative.”
SRP’s program follows ENERGY STAR guidelines and includes additional HVAC and water-efficiency improvements important to living in a desert climate.
“Building a sustainable, affordable and greener way of living is a core value at Maracay Homes,” said Andy Warren, President of Maracay Homes. “We are proud to build homes that stand up to SRP’s ENERGY STAR Homes standards. Welcome home, Simbles family.”
“There are so many features that are on this home that have not been in our previous homes, like the radiant barrier in our attic, improved windows, plus energy-efficient light bulbs, a programmable thermostat and motion sensors so the kids can’t leave lights on anymore,” Tamee said.
Health and comfort are two of the most important benefits. The homes, which undergo independent third-party testing, are built tight to keep conditioned air in, which also keeps dirt, pollen and pollutants out. Every home is required to have a fresh-air ventilation system that brings in clean, fresh air.
“When we found out our house was going to be the first one to be completed, we were so excited,” Tamee said. “Maracay Homes is everything we wanted. It’s neat being a pioneer and coming back to Arizona. It’s a nice welcome home.”
To learn more about the SRP ENERGY STAR Homes program, visit srpnet.com/energystarhomes.
soricobob posted at 4:48 am on Mon, Dec 3, 2012.
I guess the money you save is compared to different things for different people. The folks mentioned above would have saved a boatload of cash moving into any house in Phoenix. Does anyone know someone who had a $400+ water bill?