Redfin Becomes First Real Estate Site to Add Energy Cost Estimates for U.S. Homes

Redfin has added energy cost estimates for more than 85 million homes across the U.S. Through a partnership with energy software company WattBuy, consumers can now use Redfin to better understand the costs of living in a home, including utility bills that can be tricky to predict but meaningfully contribute to a homeowner's total monthly costs.

Each eligible Redfin home detail page now displays an estimate for the home's monthly electricity usage, bill, and seasonal changes in electricity usage and cost. It also estimates how much homeowners could save on long-term energy costs by installing solar panels. The feature is located directly below Redfin's existing payment calculator, allowing buyers to better understand and compare financial costs between homes and helping homeowners discover whether investing in solar energy systems could result in long-term savings.

"It's important for house hunters to understand how much it's going to cost to live in a given home," said Redfin Chief Growth Officer Christian Taubman. "Our research shows that many movers assume their utility costs will be similar in their new home, but that's sometimes way off-base. By showing this information from WattBuy for every home, we're giving homebuyers the information they need to make better decisions. We're also letting millions of homeowners know how much they can bring down their utility costs by installing solar panels."

Redfin now displays energy cost information on both for-sale and off-market homes and the experience is tuned to each different type of user. The feature highlights estimated electricity costs for buyers visiting for-sale homes and solar savings for owners visiting off-market detail pages, helping consumers understand the information that is most relevant to them. The feature is currently available for more than 85 million U.S. homes on Redfin.com.

"As forward-thinking businesses like Redfin realize how important energy cost reductions, rooftop solar, and sustainability solutions are to their customers, WattBuy is meeting this new need," said Naman Trivedi, WattBuy CEO. "Our APIs make it simple for consumer-facing companies to help their customers understand current energy usage and take the steps needed to lower their energy costs and their carbon footprint. As the technology-powered real estate company, Redfin was the obvious partner to debut this new feature."

Redfin added utility data as part of its continued commitment to providing the most complete and relevant real estate information, as well as its ongoing effort to educate consumers about housing sustainability and the impacts of climate change. In the past year, Redfin has, among other initiatives:

• Added zoning, down payment assistance, transit and internet service provider data to home detail pages
• Launched new filters that allow buyers to identify homes that better meet their needs
• Introduced property-level data for fire, heat, drought and storm risk
• Continued economic research about how climate change impacts the housing market