If your air conditioner has been going full blast, you may be dreading your energy bills. Not if you purchased a new home from Perry Homes or Beazer Homes in Amira. Both builders construct their homes with an eye toward lowering those bills with advanced building materials, design and technology. Their homes actually help you save money. How? Take a look.
Look to Your Windows
Older homes tend to have fewer and smaller windows, forcing homeowners to turn on lights during the day. Perry and Beazer design homes with oversized windows. These flood your home with natural light so you can keep your electric lights off during the day.
Not That the Lights Use Much Energy
Both of our builders go a step further when it comes to lighting. They install LED lights that are cooler and use less energy. Even in the evening when the lights are on, their contribution to your electric bill will be negligible.
Advanced Building Materials Keep You Comfortable
There have been a lot of advances in building science over the past decade. Perry and Beazer use these materials to help you feel cool in the summer and warm in the winter. Both builders use tinted, double-pane Low-E (low-emissive) sunglass windowpanes. These windows reflect heat in the summer. They help retain heat inside your home in the winter. Homes also use advanced fiberglass batt insulation. The R-value is the rating of the insulation. The larger the number, the better. The R-value of the insulation Perry uses in exterior walls is a minimum of R-13. Keeping the attic cool, keeps your house cooler. Our builders use TechShield, a thin, durable sheet of aluminum overlay laminated to oriented strand board (OSB). This prevents up to 97 percent of the sun’s radiant heat from entering the attic.
Check Your Appliances
The older appliances found in an older home tend to use a lot of electricity. New homes like those built by Perry and Beazer use ENERGY STAR® appliances to keep your energy bill down.
What’s the Score?
A HERS score is the nationally recognized system for inspecting and calculating a home’s energy performance. The lower the score, the better. On average, Beazer and Perry homes score in the 60s. The average new home scores 100. The average resale home scores 130.
Smart Homes Save Money
Having a smart home can save you money. Most home automation packages include smart thermostats that can learn your routine and automatically raise or lower temperatures. Smart lights can be turned off via an app. With Perry, “Smart Comes Standard.” That includes a Nest Thermostat E — one of the top brands of smart thermostats.
Certification is Important
You shouldn’t just take your builder’s word for it when it comes to energy efficiency. That’s why Beazer and Perry use third-party inspectors to ensure homes are up to state and national energy standards. Beazer Homes received the 2022 ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year – Sustained Excellence Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). This is the seventh consecutive year in which Beazer Homes has earned this designation.
Visit Perry, Beazer and Amira Today
Ready to save some money? Stop by Amira today and talk to the Perry and Beazer sales representatives. They can tell you more about the energy-efficient features built into every home.
Vacations are always over too soon. Just as you are getting used to being pampered, it’s time to go home. What if you could enjoy those vacation vibes all year round? It’s easier than you think. Here are some tips for turning your home into a staycation destination.
Upgrade Your Outdoor Living Space
When we think of resorts, we think of lazy day naps, beautiful landscaping and dining al fresco. Recreate that feel with a few backyard upgrades. Hang a hammock for an afternoon snooze. Build a fire pit for a romantic evening. If you purchase a home in Amira, check to see if you can extend the patio or add an outdoor fireplace. Don’t forget to update your patio furniture. Rattan or wicker will take you back to the tropics.
Dress Up Your Bed
Give your bedroom the five-star treatment. Start with a mattress topper for that plush hotel feel. Use high thread count sheets for comfort and to wick moisture away. Many resort hotels use silk or satin pillowcases for an opulent look. Skip the bedspread and purchase a high-quality comforter and duvet. Instant luxury!
Transform Your Bedroom
There’s more to a resort room than a bed. If you have the space, place a comfortable chair by the window to create a cozy reading nook. Floor-to-ceiling drapes are a standard component in hotel rooms. Be sure to open them in the morning to flood your room with natural light. In the evenings dim the lights for a warm look.
Your In-Home Spa
Remember the last time you went to a spa? If you don’t, maybe it’s time to redecorate the bathroom. Start by organizing and decluttering. Purchase luxurious towels — including bath sheets. Scented candles are a must. Splurge and buy travel-size containers of your favorite shampoo, conditioner and body wash. Don’t forget a nice fluffy robe for after your bath.
Take Advantage of Flex Rooms
Many resorts have exercise rooms, libraries and bars. You can, too, by taking advantage of your flex rooms. Depending on how you like to exercise, you can equip an at-home gym with a treadmill or exercise bike and weights. Prefer yoga? Go Zen with mats, a tabletop fountain and lots of plants. If you love libraries, buy floor-to-ceiling bookshelves and fill them up. Set up bar height tables and chairs, plug in a wine fridge and a bar cart for a fun home bar.
Set Up a Coffee Bar
In-room coffee is a wonderful luxury. Set up a small table in the bedroom with a coffee maker, beautiful mugs, non-dairy creamer, sugar and stirrers. For fun, add small bottles of coffee syrup. You can also set up a coffee bar in the kitchen. For an extra touch of luxury add a French press or espresso maker.
Fill Your Fridge
Delicious food is the best part of a vacation. Fill the fridge and pantry with resort-style foods such as yogurt, granola and fruit or smoothie fixings. For lunch, keep pre-made salad mixes on hand. Add chicken or shrimp and you are ready to go. Keep a basket of snacks on the kitchen island so family members can graze throughout the day. For dinner, challenge family members to serve up their favorite vacation meals.
Bring the Outside In
Beautiful plants and landscaping set resorts apart. Fill large vases with tropical flowers and scatter them about your family room. Add potted plants to your bedrooms. Ornamental trees tucked into corners add interest, beauty and cleaner air.
Move to Amira
Moving to a master-planned community like Amira is an easy way to staycation all year. You get a beautiful home and access to a wealth of amenities, such as our resort-style pool and sun-drenched courtyard as well as our clubhouse with a fitness room, children’s reading nook, kitchen and yoga studio. Visit us today and get started on building your staycation home.
Step up your staycation game and whip up meals that remind you of palm trees and island breezes. Each recipe is easy to make and pairs nicely with a new home in Amira — where every day is a resort day.
Step Up to the Tiki Bar
What’s a tropical vacation without a trip to the tiki bar? Shake up a classic Mai Tai or take a swing at mixing up a Singapore Sling. Serve your pina coladas in a pineapple. If margaritas are your game, whip up this frozen mango margarita. Cool down with this inspired tropical gin fizz.
Tropical Nibbles
Need some nibbles? These King’s Hawaiian mini baked ham sandwiches are a quick way to satisfy tiny tummies. Everything tastes better when it’s grilled on a stick, so offer up these Mini Hawaiian chicken skewers and grilled fruit skewers at your next pool party.
Healthy and Delicious
Tropical resorts excel at elevating the humble salad and you can, too. Invite the book club over for a good summer read and this crab and avocado salad. Got tomatoes? Pair them with mangos for a tangy taste of the tropics. This Caribbean-inspired salad is sure to remind you of turquoise waters and white-sand beaches.
Fish Food
Creating resort-style seafood dishes isn’t nearly as hard as you think. Start with fresh fish and let your oven or grill do the rest. Mahi mahi just tastes better marinated in citrus juices. Don’t let the extensive list of ingredients scare you, this coconut-crusted ahi is worth it. Simplify your weeknight by throwing red snapper on the grill.
Not a Fish Fan?
There’s more to island chow than fish. Recreate your last luau with this kalua pork recipe. Spicy chicken, coconut rice and mango salsa? We’re in paradise. H-E-B helps you get dinner on the table in no time with these tropical chicken tacos. Give your barbecue chicken an island kick with mango and ginger.
Go Coconuts
When it’s time for dessert, go coconuts! We’re in love with this tropical coconut pie filled with pineapple and rum. These pina colada cupcakes are perfect for the kid’s table. Who doesn’t love a pineapple-coconut upside down cake? Need a fancy ending to a perfect dinner? We recommend these coconut and tropical fruit pavlovas.
When you’re good at what you do, awards often follow.
That can certainly be said for our two builders, Beazer Homes and Perry Homes.
One of the most recent honors for Beazer Homes was to be ranked the No. 1 construction company on a list of America’s Most Trusted Companies. The list, compiled by Newsweek, ranks publicly traded U.S. corporations across 22 industries. Survey respondents were asked how well they knew these companies, if they believed they treated customers and employees fairly, and if they thought these companies were a good investment.
Another Beazer Homes accolade that home buyers will be happy about is that it has received the 2022 Energy Star Partner of the Year — Sustained Excellence Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy. And it’s not the first time Beazer Homes has earned this award, which is the highest honor presented by the Energy Star Program. It’s Beazer’s seventh consecutive year to win this award.
Beazer has committed that by the end of 2025, each home it builds will meet the requirements of the DOE Zero Energy Ready Home program. The program’s guidelines help ensure that a home has at least a 40 to 50 percent greater energy efficiency than a typical home.
Perry Homes is not without an awards cabinet, either. It is the top private homebuilder in the robust Houston residential real estate market. It is also Houston’s No. 1 woman-owned company, as reported by the Houston Business Journal. Perry Homes is known nationally, too, standing as the 8th largest private homebuilder in the nation, according to Builder magazine.
Why do so many people choose a Perry home? Because the builder has spent the last 55 years developing a tradition of excellence. Home design, quality construction, leading innovation and an exceptional warranty all draw prospective home buyers. In fact, Perry Homes boasts a 95 percent customer satisfaction rating and a large number of repeat buyers.
Beazer Homes offers homes throughout the country and Perry Homes builds throughout Texas. Of course, we think their very best community is Amira. See what these award-winning builders have available and make the move to Amira!