A mom’s view of home improvement

We asked several local moms “if money was no object, what would you like to have, or do to improve your home”.  We found their ideas and stories to be great for our Puget Sound community at large. While every answer was different, topics of comfort and convenience for the children, and ease of use for themselves in caring for the family, were common themes. Here are five of their stories (and yes, these are real people and their real stories):    

Christine from Lynnwood, WA I would love to have air conditioning for the warmer days. I have a window unit in my room that we rely on, because with my youngest (2 1/2) wanting to go outside, I have to keep the front of the house closed so she can’t escape! A more efficient heating and cooling system would take less money to run, and be a more even temp all year round instead of us constantly adjusting the heating.   We should probably have better insulation to help keep the cool air in instead of out the roof. And insulation in my garage so that it doesn’t cook us to do laundry in the summer, and you don’t need to wear a snow suit in the winter.   And doors with better handles and extra security for my little one that likes to try to get out of the house or go into rooms that she is not allowed in (she figured out how to pop the childproof handles off the doors!)    

MaryEllen from Mill Creek, WA Definitely a tankless water heater so that I can have more hot water to get everyone showered more timely in the morning, get my towels washed in hot water and actually have hot water to do my dishes after all this! Having a 50 gallon water heater I have to wait for it to recover before we can move to the next thing. I would also like all new EnergyStar kitchen appliances that use less energy and run quieter.   Even though I have nice, relatively new vinyl windows, I would like to change out a few of the picture windows to have more sliders with screens to allow fresh air in when it’s wanted. We don’t really need A/C in the summer (yet!), but more breeze would be helpful.

Tanya from Mountlake Terrace, WA My kids are grown now, but when they were younger I wished I had a bigger washing machine, quieter appliances all around, and having 3 kids a husband and a dog, I really wished I had a tankless water heater. Looking back I could have used better insulation as well, that would have also prevented the neighbors from hearing the yelling “stop putting that up your nose” “Homework isn’t an option!!”  “chocolate milk is NOT ok to take into your room!!” etc.    

Ilana from Mulkilteo, WA I would like to keep germs filtered out to help my kids stay healthy for a longer period of time. Maybe a UV system to take viruses out of the air and a better furnace filter might help. I am not very good about changing the filter on my heating system and probably should do that more often.   Where we live there are lots of big trees and we can get power outages during windstorms. I would like a generator that could power the whole house in the event of a power outage.    

Jessica from Snohomish, WA If I were going to make improvements to my home and money was not object, I would definitely put in an enclosed sunroom with an indoor steam room and dry sauna for my sons asthma and eczema.   We have been in our home for 15 years and air conditioning is one of our favorite upgrades. The first floor of our home remained cool during summer months but, the 2^nd floor was stifling with no breeze. We put in our air conditioning 5 years ago and I would say that has been our best investment.  While all the neighbors are sitting out on their porches at 11pm at night with fans going and windows open or with portable air conditioners, we are in our house in bed sleeping with the cool air. It is refreshing to come in to the house after a hot day and being able to relax in our home. The kids are also not cranky because they are cool and all of their friends want to come to our house for some relief to the heat. We also installed hard wood floors and I think they are a must in the NW with kids, pets and our fabulous NW weather. Easy clean up and they look beautiful.   If you have a mom POV you’d like to share with us, find this article us on Facebook or reply to this post below. Happy Mothers day! Washington Energy wishes all mom’s a comfortable and happy holiday.