How's Your Homeowners Insurance Stack Up?

Mine is with State Farm and I'm pretty satisfied. Other than the little tidbit I heard on the radio yesterday reporting that the homeowners insurance rates here in the Republic of Texas are the highest in the nation.

What in tarnation did we do to deserve that? After all, Katrina hit Louisiana, not us. Wait, maybe it's because we took in the refugees? No good deed goes unpunished, as they say.

Many capital improvements can raise what you should increase your policy's value. Like replacing your central air conditioner with a more energy efficient one (higher SEER rating).

I just got a letter from State Farm today letting me know how important it is to keep up with how much my home is insured for. Makes sense; it covers the home's replacement cost, not the market value. Different animals entirely.

Like the difference between a horse and a zebra.

The cost of labor and construction materials keeps going up whether you make home improvements or not. This means the value of your policy must go up if you want to rebuild to the current standard if you should experience a catastrophe, God forbid.

Also note that your residential insurance policy does not automatically cover flooding. That's a separate rider. Get it or weep.

The last and only time I made a claim was when my house flooded from a burst bathroom sink cold water supply line. Man, what a headache. Not the insurance, the clean-up.

Oh yeah, that was covered by the regular policy because it was a plumbing issue, not weather. All flooding situations are not created equal.

So I pass on this wee bit of advice: get ye over to Lowes or Home Depot and pick up "burst-proof" hot and cold supply lines for your sinks and toilets.

Replace them or hire a handyman to do it for you. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Air Conditioners and Swamp Coolers

Since it's summer, one of the topics I've been writing on is air conditioners. If you've got one, it's time to tune it up. If it's too far gone, it's a great time to install a new one. The SEER ratings are high, Energy Star abounds, and if you live in the U.S., you've probably got a tax rebate.

Another thing to do in the spring or early summer is tune up the thermostat. Hardly anyone does this.

The thing about A/C units is that there's many options. Do you want to cool just the living room during the day but the bedroom at night? Get a portable air conditioner. How about cooling just one room all the time? Consider a window-mounted unit.

During my research, I delved into the world of swamp coolers, or evaporative coolers, as they're also called. I've never lived in the desert so I didn't have first hand knowledge of them. But I was surprised to learn how closely they resemble the cooling towers that I've worked with.

A swamp cooler is very simple compared to a central air conditioner. A central unit has a condenser unit, evaporator coils, and a closed system with refrigerant and oil. A swamp cooler is just a box with water soaked blanket pads hanging inside.

Did you find this article helpful? Visit me at www.ksmithwriter.com/.