The days of inefficient light bulbs are slowly coming to an end and recent tests from Consumer Reports showcase more than 30 different compact fluorescents and light-emitting diodes that can brighten indoor and outdoor spaces.

Consumer Reports’ CFL and LED bulb research found that many problems of the earlier versions of the bulbs have been overcome and that these new efficient bulbs last longer and use far less electricity than the traditional incandescent bulbs.

The Ratings put a spotlight on 60-watt equivalent CFLs and LEDs, as those are the most popular types sold in the U.S. Out of the two types of bulbs tested, CFLs save money faster due to their low cost. It usually takes less than a year to recoup the cost of most CFLs, according to Consumer Reports tests, while LEDs can take four to 10 years to pay for themselves due to the high cost of the bulb.

CFLs now have less mercury. The amount in the bulbs, Consumer Reports tested, has dropped 60% to 75%, compared with already low levels they found in 2008, without affecting performance. Nevertheless, spent CFLs should be recycled. Home Depot, Ikea, Lowe’s, and some ACE Hardware stores will accept used bulbs. If you break a CFL, follow EPA’s clean-up tips.

LEDs are the newest choice, with the highest price. The best LEDs were still as bright as the incandescent they replaced, yet only half were as bright as promised. Consumer Reports found that all LEDs reached full brightness instantly, even at frigid temperatures, providing warm white light that was unaffected by frequently turning them on and off.

Energy use matched or exceeded claims. LEDs are supposed to last 20,000 to 50,000 hours, or about 18 to 46 years when used 3 hours a day. Nearly all the LEDs are still burning brightly after 3,000 hours, and only four of the 100 LEDs stopped working.

CR Recommended picks include three that were also evaluated by 19 Consumer Reports staffers in their homes, the Philips AmbientLED 12.5W 12E26A60 60W, $40 for table or floor lamps, the EcoSmart LED Downlight 10.5W 65W E26 ECO-575L Dimmable (Home Depot), $50 for recessed or track lights, and the EcoSmart PAR38 ECS 38 Bright White 75W 866194 Dimmable LED (Home Depot), $45 outdoor flood light.

“You can find a CFL or LED that will give you the brightness and light quality you like, and it will save you around $50 over the life of each CFL and anywhere from $65 to $400 over the lifetime of each LED,” said Celia Kuperszmid Lehrman, deputy home and yard editor at Consumer Reports. “Plus these new efficient bulbs last much longer than incandescent bulbs, so you won’t have to change them as often.”

How to choose

It isn’t socket science, but there are a few terms you need to know before buying any energy-saving bulb. Energy Star-qualified bulbs meet high standards for brightness, color, and energy use, and the mercury content is capped in CFLs. Additionally, a variety of federal regulations will be implemented in the coming years including a law that requires most screw-in bulbs to be more efficient by 2014.

Look at lumens. Watts tell only energy use, lumens measure brightness. In spirals, look for at least 450 lumens if replacing a 40-watt bulb, 800 lumens or more for a 60-watt bulb, 1,100 lumens for a 75-watt bulb, and 1,600 lumens or higher when replacing a 100-watt bulb. In floodlights look for a lumen count that is at least 10 times the wattage of the bulb replacing.

Don’t confuse brightness with color. The whiteness, yellowness, or blueness of light is measured by its temperature in kelvins. Incandescents produce a warm yellowish light with a color temperature of about 2,700K. At 3,00K to 4,100K range give off a cool, bright white light that’s similar to a halogen bulb, and 5,000K to 6,500K bulbs mimic natural or daylight, but can have a bluer tones that may be unflattering indoors. Use kelvins to get the right color light because terms like soft white and warm white mean different things to different manufacturers.

Note CRI. In addition to temperature, the Color Rendering Index indicates how accurately colors appear under the light and ranges from 0 to 100, with daytime sunlight at 100. Most of the tested bulbs are in the low 80’s; a few reached the upper 80’s and low 90’s. A CRI of at least 80 is generally recommended for interior lights, and differences of fewer than five points are insignificant.

Read the package. As of Jan. 1, 2012, a Lighting Facts label must appear on the packages of most bulbs to show brightness, energy use, estimated energy costs, expected life, light color in kelvins, and, for CFLs, mercury content. Note: Only the information on Energy Star bulbs has been independently verified.

Check for rebates and coupons. Visit www.dsireusa.org/incentives or www.energystar.gov to find utility rebates and search online for manufacturer rebates and coupons.

Keep your receipts. The bulbs are supposed to last for years, so save the receipts and UPC codes, which you will need to return a bulb to the manufacturer or retailer.

The full report is available for fans of Consumer Reports’ Facebook page.

Source: Consumer Reports

It’s time for your annual check-up. The good news is that for this one, you won’t have to don one of those revealing hospital gowns—and you may walk away with a healthier pocketbook. We’re talking about a homeowners insurance check-up, a task you should complete once a year, ideally around renewal time. This will ensure your policy still provides the right level of coverage for your family, and your premium isn’t costing you more than it should.

Remember, homeowners insurance is essential. The coverage is designed to protect your home and its contents, as well as shield you from liability for accidents and such on your property. Block out an hour of your time, call an insurance agent, and get answers to these three important questions.

What type of coverage do I have?

The most effective type of coverage is known as “replacement cost,” which covers, up to your policy limits, what it would take today to rebuild your house and restore your belongings, says Jerry Oshinsky, a partner at Jenner & Block in Los Angeles who has represented homeowners in litigation against insurers.

“Extended” replacement cost coverage provides protection to your policy limit, say $500,000, and then perhaps another 20% of the cost after that. Percentages vary, but in this example you could recoup up to $600,000 on a $500,000 policy, assuming your losses reach that high. Extended coverage can compensate for any unanticipated expenses like spikes in construction costs between policy renewals. Now harder to find due to the industry shift toward extended replacement coverage, “full” or “guaranteed” replacement coverage covers an entire claim regardless of policy limits.

A less attractive alternative is “actual cash value” coverage that usually takes into account depreciation, the decrease in value due to age and wear. With this type of policy, the $2,000 flat-screen TV you bought two years ago will be worth hundreds of dollars less today in the eyes of your claims adjuster. Kevin Foley, an independent insurance broker in Milltown, N.J., favors replacement cost coverage unless you can save at least 25% on the premium for going with actual cash value coverage instead.

Even if you have replacement cost protection for your dwelling and personal property, don’t assume everything is covered. Structures other than your home on your property—such as a detached garage or swimming pool—require separate coverage. So too do luxury items like jewelry, watches, and furs if you want full replacement cost because reimbursement for those items is typically capped.

How much coverage do I really need?

OK, now that you’re clear on what type of policy you have, you need to figure out how much policy you truly require in dollar terms. Let’s say you purchased your home five years ago and insured it for $200,000. Today, it’s worth $225,000. Simply increasing your coverage to $225,000 may nonetheless leave you underinsured. Here’s why.

The key to determining how much dwelling coverage you need isn’t the value of your home but the money you’d have to pay to rebuild it from scratch, says Carlos Aguirre, an agent for Liberty Mutual Insurance in Arlington, Texas. Call your local contractors’ or homebuilders’ association and inquire about the average per-square-foot construction cost in your area. If it’s $150 and your home is 2,000 square feet, then you should be insured for $300,000.

There’s no rule of thumb for how much your homeowners insurance should cost. Insurers use numerous factors—age, education level, creditworthiness—to determine pricing, so the same policy could run you more than your neighbor. In recent years the average annual premium was $804. Oshinsky advises against scrimping on insurance because big increases in coverage probably cost less than you’d think. He recently purchased a liability policy that cost $250 for the first $1 million in coverage. Adding another $1 million increased his premiums only $12.50 more.

How can I lower my premiums?

The higher your deductible, the amount you pay out of pocket before coverage kicks in, the lower your premium. Landing on the appropriate deductible level requires remembering that insurance should cover major calamities, not minor incidents, says Foley, the independent insurance broker. Most homeowners should be able to absorb modest losses like a broken window pane or a hole in the drywall without filing claims. If you can, then you’re wasting money with a $250 deductible.

Foley’s rule: If you’re a first-time homeowner and don’t have a lot of savings, moving up to a $500 deductible will probably stretch your budget. However, if you live in a ritzy home and drive an expensive car, then you should be able to afford a $1,000 deductible. In Milltown, N.J., for example, the premium for a $200,000 home with a $500 deductible would be $736, according to Foley; moving up to a $1,000 deductible drops the annual premium to $672. That’s $64 in savings.

Every major insurer offers discounts to various groups, such as university employees or firefighters. Figure about 5%. Ask which affiliations would entitle you to a discount and how much. If an AARP membership would result in a $50 savings, pay the $16 dues and pocket the $36 difference. Many insurers also offer discounts ranging from 1% to 10% or more for installing protective devices like alarms and deadbolt locks, for going claim-free for an extended period, or for insuring both your car and your home with the same carrier.

G.M. Filisko is an attorney and award-winning writer who has been involved in insurance litigation. A frequent contributor to many national publications including Consumers Digest, Bankrate.com, REALTOR(R) Magazine, and the American Bar Association Journal, she specializes in real estate, personal finance, and legal topics.

Homes are supposed to breathe. But some inhale excessively from the outdoors and exhale too much from inside. The result: Drafty rooms, high utility bills, dirty and leaky ducts, and a bigger-than-necessary carbon footprint. If you think your home could be more energy efficient but aren’t sure where its leaks live, an energy audit can diagnose your energy issues and help you decide which to tackle.

Audits identify a mixture of major and minor air leaks. So if you’re budget-minded, you might opt for inexpensive fixes like adding caulk or insulation at leak points and installing weather-stripping. If you’re embarking on a remodel, you can make bigger investments, such as adding insulation.

The question is whether to hire a pro or conduct a free do-it-yourself audit guided by online tips. There are pros and cons to either approach.

Paying for a pro

Professional audits aren’t cheap: They run from $150 (visual) to $400-$600 or more (diagnostic). But the information they reveal can help you make targeted repairs that lower energy bills by 5% to 30% annually, according to the U.S. Department of Energy’s office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. With energy bills averaging about $2,200 annually, according to Energy Star, following an auditor’s recommendations could save you up to $660 within a year.

Paying for an audit may not make sense if you have a newly-constructed home, which likely follows the most up-to-date building codes. Energy audits should also take a back seat to urgent home issues that compromise safety, such as old or faulty electrical or structural issues, like roof or foundation problems. So if you own a fixer-upper, it’s worth addressing safety issues before optimizing energy issues.

DIY audits

A do-it-yourself audit may help you make an educated guess about how airtight your home is—or isn’t—and point you toward fixes. A typical DIY test: Hold up a lit candle to windows, doors, and electrical outlets to see if a draft blows the flame.

But be aware that when you fix a problem you uncover yourself, you could err. For instance, you might pay for new windows when you need to insulate existing window frames instead. You could also over-seal your home, creating indoor air quality issues (dirty air, mold) that compromise your health.

Services of a professional audit

Pro audits give you access to high-tech tools that pinpoint the exact location of duct leaks; exactly how airtight your home is (and should be according to local code); gas leaks; and which direction drafts are blowing. Draft direction can alert an auditor that your attic is greedily sucking up your warm air, for instance. They also ferret out drafts between insulated and less-insulated (garage, basement/crawlspace, attic) portions of a home and assess the performance of heating and cooling systems.

Two types of professional audit

A visual inspection (like a home inspection, but focused narrowly on energy issues) might be sufficient if you have semi-finished or exposed spaces (unfinished basements, exposed ducts, crawlspaces, and attics). A diagnostic inspection includes visual work, but also employs tools and devices to pinpoint air leaks.

• Blower door tests use high-powered fans to depressurize a home so that a technician can measure draft levels.

• Thermal or infrared scanning measures surface temperature variations along walls to spot exact locations of air leaks or insulation lapses.

• Smoke puffers release a form of “dust” during a blower door test to reveal the direction drafts are blowing.

• Duct blasters inject and measure air pressure, air flow, and leakage in ducts.

• Gas leak detection devices help assess indoor air quality.

These technologies provide far more specific information about a home’s issues than a typical DIY audit.

Common energy issues

A technician should be able to tell you how much total air leakage exists in your home (10 sq. ft. is like having a door open all the time), where it comes from, and how best to address it, says Robert Stockmann, of Pinnacle Home Inspections in Bellingham, Wash. The most common issues he finds are:

• Ducts in uninsulated areas (crawlspaces, attics, unfinished basements), which need cleaning, insulation, re-sealing

• Moisture in crawl spaces and basements

• Air that’s entering or exiting the home via range hoods, attic trap doors, and poorly sealed doors

Hire an auditor, smartly

Energy audit is a loose term these days, so when hiring an auditor, ask questions. Make sure the auditor doesn’t work for a window company; has a professional affiliation with or training from an auditing organization such as RESNET or the Building Performance Institute; and can provide a written report. If you need diagnostic advice, ask if the auditor can use tools that assess what’s going on behind walls and inside ducts. Your local utility company may offer audits or be able to recommend auditors.

Because an audit is a precursor to further spending for repairs, if your DIY audit indicates you need extensive, expensive, or hard-to-do repairs, consider a paid audit as a kind of second opinion. Likewise, any paid audit that indicates you need only minor fixes may seem unnecessary—but if you consider that small fixes may keep you from overspending on major ones, the money may be worth it.

Jane Hodges has written about real estate for publications including MSNBC.com, Seattle Magazine, and The Seattle Times. In 2007, she won a Bivins Fellowship from the National Association of Real Estate Editors to pursue a book on women and real estate. Her work has also appeared in The New York Times, CBS’s BNET, and Fortune. She lives in Seattle in a 1966 raised rancher with an excellent retro granite fireplace. Latest home project: Remodeling a basement bathroom.

Pending home sales declined in July but remain well above year-ago levels, according to the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®. All regions show monthly declines except for the West, which continues to show the highest level of sales contract activity.

The Pending Home Sales Index, which measures the number of home sales contracts signed, slipped 1.3% in July, but is 14.4% above the level seen in July 2010.

NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun said sales activity is underperforming. “The market can easily move into a healthy expansion if mortgage underwriting standards return to normalcy,” he said. “We also need to be mindful that not all sales contracts are leading to closed existing-home sales. Other market frictions need to be addressed, such as assuring that proper comparables are used in appraisal valuations, and streamlining the short sales process.”

Regional pending home sales

The PHSI in the Northeast declined 2.0% in July but is 9.7% above July 2010. In the Midwest the index slipped 0.8% but is 18.8% above a year ago. Pending home sales in the South fell 4.8% but are 9.5% higher than July 2010. In the West the index rose 3.6% and is 20.6% above a year ago.

“Looking at pending home sales over a longer span, contract activity over the past three months is fairly comparable to the first three months of the year, and well above the low seen in April,” Yun said. “The underlying factors for improving sales are developing, such as rising rents, record high affordability conditions, and investors buying real estate as a future inflation hedge. It is now a question of lending standards and consumers having the necessary confidence to enter the market.”

Source: NAR

Tropical storm season officially started this month, so it’s a great time to double-check the disaster plan for your family — including your pets. If you leave them behind when you evacuate, they’ll most likely end up lost, injured, or killed, according to the Insurance Information Institute.

“Many public shelters that are set up for disaster victims don’t accept pets, so you need to find out in advance which shelters or hotels along your evacuation route will accept pets,” said Jeanne M. Salvatore, senior vice president and consumer spokesperson for III. “It is tragic, but people have actually died because they were ordered to evacuate and did not want to leave their pets behind.”

Try these four tips to protect you, your loved ones, and your pets in the event of a disaster:

1. Have a disaster plan that includes these elements:

• Make a plan for where you will go and how you will get there.

• Map out your primary route and a backup route in case roads are blocked or impassable. Make sure you have a map of the area available.

• Put together a list of boarding facilities and veterinarians along the evacuation route and outside your area that might be able to shelter your pets in an emergency. Include emergency phone numbers.

• Talk to your vet, the humane society, or the local emergency management agency for information regarding community evacuation plans that include pets.

• Make advance arrangements to have a friend or neighbor pick up your pets in the event you are not at home when a disaster strikes. Plan where you will meet or how you will reach each other.

2. Make a grab-and-go disaster kit for your pets with these items:

• Medication and medical records (including proof of rabies vaccination) in a waterproof container

• Pet first aid kit

• Leashes, harnesses, crates, and carriers for transporting pets

• A muzzle, if your pet requires one

• Food and water for at least three days; a manual can opener

• Cat litter and litter box

• Comfort toys

• Recent photo of you and your pet in case you become separated

• Name and phone number of your veterinarian

• If you have pet insurance, the insurance company contact information and policy number

3. If you must evacuate with your pets, be prepared to leave early. If you wait for an official evacuation order, you might be told to leave your pets behind. As you evacuate, follow these guidelines:

• Make sure your pet is wearing up-to-date identification. Include the phone number of a friend or relative outside your area in case your pet gets lost and you cannot be reached. Mark the crate or carrier with similar information.

• Transport birds in a secure travel cage or carrier. During warm weather, carry a plant mister to mist the bird’s feathers periodically. Do not put water inside the carrier during transport; instead provide a few slices of fresh fruit or vegetables with high water content.

4. After the disaster, do not allow your pets to roam after you arrive back home because familiar landmarks and smells might be gone, and your pet may become disoriented. Pets can easily get lost in such situations, so give them some time to get used to their “new” surroundings.

Be patient. Try to get your pets back into their normal routines as soon as possible, and be on the lookout for stress-related behavioral problems; if these persist, talk to your veterinarian.

Source: III

Let’s face it — contemplating catastrophe can be stressful. Some people even feel like they’re courting a disaster by planning for one. That’s a natural response, but it’s not in your best interest as a homeowner.

“Denial is a pretty strong emotional mechanism for trying to put yourself at ease,” says Rick Bissell, Ph.D., a professor of emergency health services at the University of Maryland, Baltimore. But, he cautions, “if you deny that a crisis will ever occur, you won’t invest the time or energy in preparing to respond and protect yourself, and you’ll likely be out of luck.” Part of that preparation should include an evacuation and communication plan.

Think about escape routes in advance

It’s hard to think clearly when the floodwaters are rising. That’s why you need to plan how to safely exit your house now, not when you’re panicking during an actual emergency. The particulars of your plan will vary depending on what kind of house you have and whether you live in Tornado Alley or quake-prone Los Angeles, but here are some general guidelines:

• Have two ways to escape every room. Buy escape ladders for upstairs windows, then practice using them.

• Check with local and state officials for regional evacuation routes. Learn the safest way out of town, and keep maps handy.

• Designate a meeting place if family members are scattered. If the rendezvous point is your house, also pick a second location, such as an office or relative’s house, in case home is off-limits.

• Figure out how you’ll transport Fido; a house that’s unsafe for you is also hazardous for your pet. Some communities designate a Pet Protector, a person responsible for retrieving and/or caring for animals if owners can’t. The Humane Society is a good source of information on disaster planning for your pet.

• Obtain a copy of your office or school’s emergency plan. If one doesn’t exist, you could volunteer to create it, helping safeguard your family and your community.

Designate a “communication commander”

An emergency can knock out telephone and cell service, so it’s important to have a “communication commander” who can receive and relay messages between family members. Choose someone out of your area whose phone service is less likely to be disrupted, and give that person cell phone, office numbers, and email addresses for everyone in the family. Each family member should carry the communication commander’s contact info, too. Program it into your cell phone address book and label it “ICE”—in case of emergency. If you’re disabled, an emergency responder will search your phone for ICE contacts.

Use technology to stay in touch

Even when some communications methods don’t work, others might. For instance, text messages can often be sent when other cell service is down; the government and private companies are currently working on a nationwide text-based Emergency Notification System. Here are some other technology workarounds that could help in an emergency or power outage:

• Hook your Internet router to an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) to keep online service running long enough to send out emergency notifications. You can buy one for under $100 that will keep the computer running for about 15 minutes after the power goes out.

• Keep a corded phone at home. In a power outage, cordless handsets are useless. You can also buy a hand-crank or solar cell-phone charger, such as the Sidewinder crank from Gaiam or the Brunton Solaris portable solar panel.

• If you get separated from your family but have Internet access, you can let others know where you are with the Red Cross’s Safe and Well program. On the homepage of redcross.org, click the “List Yourself Here” button. “One of the staples at shelters now is providing computers so people can get online and let people know they’re okay,” says David Riedman, a public affairs officer with FEMA.

• Keep a battery-operated or hand-crank radio in your emergency preparedness kit to get news and instructions.

Having a disaster plan does more than just keep your own family safe. It also serves your community. “When an individual is prepared to handle an emergency themselves, that alleviates a lot of the pressure on emergency response teams,” says FEMA’s Riedman, freeing up emergency workers to deliver help to those who need it most.

Wendy Paris is a New York-based writer whose work has appeared in This Old House magazine and other publications. She keeps chocolate chips on hand in case of emergency.

Shopping for wood countertops, cabinets, or doors? FSC and SFI are the two green certifications you need to know.

If sustainability is important to you when you remodel a kitchen or bathroom or build a deck, look for the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification. It’s the best indicator, here in the U.S., that the wood used to make your cabinets, countertops, deck, and more was harvested sustainably.

The Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) certification is helpful, too, though less rigorous. It’s a good bet when you can’t find FSC products.

Both certifications tell you whether a wood product comes from a forest that’s managed responsibly.

Responsible forest management

It includes:

• Protecting fragile ecosystems

• Respecting native cultures and economies

• Preventing illegal logging

• Restricting clear-cutting (removing all trees in a tract) and pesticide use

• Monitoring the “chain of custody,” or ensuring that the wood in the product you’re looking at really came from the forest that was certified.

Where to find certified wood

Ask your retailer or cabinet maker up front about their certified wood options, and whether any are ready made. You can also use FSC or SFI’s online products database to select a retailer that carries certified wood.

Is certified wood more expensive?

The frustrating answer is maybe yes, depending on efficiencies in the supply chain, or maybe no, such as if FSC-certified suppliers, for instance, are competing with wood that’s been harvested irresponsibly. FSC recommends you do comparison shopping among local suppliers and online.

Forest Stewardship Council = the gold standard

FSC is widely considered the best forestry certification program, although industry groups tend to consider it too strict—and environmentalists, too lax. The nonprofit was started by environmental groups in 1993.

Most agree FSC is a stronger certification than SFI, although to what extent is debatable, as both have downsides. FSC has very specific criteria for what constitutes responsible forest management, placing a big emphasis on environmental health. FSC certification is tougher than SFI in several categories, including how much clear-cutting is allowed and how much chemical pesticide can be used.

Downside of FSC: Because it’s harder to achieve, it’s harder to find in the store. But it’s worth the extra effort, because consumer demand can help it spread to a broader audience. Just allow yourself some extra time to locate products, says BuildingGreen, a company that educates building professionals on green certifications.

Sustainable Forestry Initiative less rigorous

SFI has its roots in the logging industry, as an outgrowth of the American Forest and Paper Association, from which it still receives funding despite the fact that it’s now a separate nonprofit. Because it takes money directly from the industry it polices, and because its certification process isn’t as transparent as FSC’s, you could reasonably doubt whose interests come first.

Still, SFI has toughened its standards over the years, including prohibiting logging of old-growth forests and limiting chemical pesticides. BuildingGreen deems it an acceptable solution when you can’t find FSC products.

Caveat about green certifications for wood products

Forestry certifications aren’t the final word on wood. Consider whether the whole package—everything that makes up those cabinets—is really green:

• Glues

• Paints

• Finishes

• The distance it has to be shipped to reach you

Alternative idea: Salvaging existing wood or buying products with a large amount of recycled content may be just as green a choice.

Karin Beuerlein has covered home improvement and green living topics extensively for FineLiving.com, FrontDoor.com, and HGTV.com. She and her husband started married life by remodeling the house they were living in. They still have both the marriage and the house, no small feat.

Yes, you can! Squeeze a small office into your small home, that is. But that doesn’t mean you have to take over one of the kids’ bedrooms—just look for under-utilized space.

After that, it’s decision time: How much to spend, how big to make the office, and how you’ll use it.

Here are five solutions to consider:

1. Kitchen helper. From a $400 store-bought island for bill-paying to a breakfast bench nook with file drawers built in under the seats (cost: $5,000 to $15,000), your kitchen is a treasure trove of small office possibilities. Even a slide-out cutting board (about $500 in a cabinet package) can serve as a nifty desktop.

2. Closet conversion. Get rid of unused stuff or consolidate it in another area, and a 3- to 8-foot-wide closet accommodates a built-in desk, shelves, and lighting. Make a nearby chair do double duty for your desk.

With doors and wiring for lighting and a phone, and possible added drywall, your new small office would cost $2,000 to $4,000. Keep in mind that the more floors and walls that wiring has to travel through, the costlier it gets.

3. Porch possibilities. Convert that long, narrow space on the side of your small home that gets only seasonal use to a year-round office for about $15 per square foot. Use plug-in space heaters and fans for your HVAC system.

Use inexpensive, freestanding shelves to provide storage space. Cost: About $70 for a 30-by-80-inch bookshelf.

4. Those out-of-the-way spaces. Alcoves, lofts, stair landings, basement and garage corners, and bedroom nooks qualify as potential office space. Use freestanding shelving units and bookcases. Plants or privacy screens can “wall” the area without making it feel smaller.

You can build a bench for visitors with storage space inside for about $130. Want a craftsman to build it for you? Add another $300 to $400.

5. Under-used dining rooms. Formal dining rooms can be overrated. If yours isn’t being used regularly, convert it to a small office. You’ll be close to your main entry, making it easy to receive clients and business associates. If a nearby kitchen or other busy household area is a noisy distraction, install French or sliding doors as acoustic barriers.

Terry Sheridan is an award-winning writer who has covered real estate and home ownership issues for more than 20 years. She’s owned homes ranging from 1,500 square feet to 3,000 square feet.

A group of auto dealerships has secured the naming rights for the new downtown Evansville Arena. The Tri-State Ford Dealers will pay $4.2 million over 10 years to name the building the Ford Center. The new arena is expected to create more than 300 part-time jobs when it opens later this year.

Evansville Mayor Jonathan Weinzapfel is pleased to announce that the Tri-State Ford Dealers have acquired the naming rights for the new Evansville arena, which will hereafter be known as the Ford Center. The naming rights agreement, which will be presented to the Evansville Redevelopment Commission for approval on September 7, calls for the Tri-State Ford Dealers to pay the City of Evansville more than $4.2 million over a 10-year period.

“For a global company like Ford to decide that a marketing investment in Evansville is money well spent, well that just confirms that we’re a community on the rise and that we’ve got a stellar facility,” said Mayor Weinzapfel. “We obviously couldn’t predict what kind of response we’d receive when we put feelers out about naming rights for the new arena, especially in the current economic climate, so this is big time. Hats off to VenuWorks, particularly Steve Peters and Scott Schoenike, the Tri-State Ford Dealers, and everyone who made this deal possible.”

“The Ford Dealers throughout the Tri-State Region are excited to partner with the City of Evansville in becoming the naming rights partner of this fabulous facility. It will play an important role in transforming downtown Evansville. It is a place where they can showcase their world-class lineup of fuel efficient cars and trucks. This is a unique opportunity for the Tri-State Ford Dealers to support the City of Evansville while also reaching consumers outside their stores. The Ford Center is a first-class, state-of-the-art facility that mirrors what Ford is all about: Quality, Technology and Innovation,” said Rob Reynolds, Ford Senior Account Supervisor.

“These are indeed exciting times for the City of Evansville and the region with the construction of a new 11,000-seat facility now named the Ford Center. I believe you will see increased activity on Main Street as it transforms into a destination,” added Scott Schoenike, VenuWorks Executive Director, the firm that manages the Ford Center for the City.

The Ford Center is expected to draw more than 300,000 people through the doors in its first year with a variety of diverse family entertainment and sporting events, including serving as the home court for the University of Evansville men’s and women’s basketball teams as well as the home ice for the Evansville IceMen hockey team of the Central Hockey League (CHL).

The Ford Center is expected to create more than 300 part-time jobs in positions such as ushers, ticket sellers, ticket takers, concessions, and catering. In addition, local businesses around downtown and throughout the Evansville area will certainly see a positive impact because of the Ford Center, particularly restaurants and bar establishments that event attendees will patronize before and after Ford Center events.

Source: City of Evansville & InsideINdianaBusiness.com Report

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