General Discussion

BUT, it is very important that tree's no matter the size, that are close to your home are healthy and properly maintained. Maintained by an arborist if you can afford it. Proper trimming is a must around your home.

But the amount of money that can be saved on utility bills is far from insignificant. Its downright amazing. My home see's direct full sunlight about 4 hours a day. I don't have central air as my home is far too old to be running duct at a decent price. I just use a couple of thermostat controlled window units. Around 2/3rds of the summer "hot" season around here, maybe 4-5 months, they don't turn on until 4 or 4pm and may run until sunset around 8 or 9. All the trees within 10ft of my house are deciduous so in the winter, the leaves fall and go into my compost pile. So my house gets full sun almost all day during winter, like most homes.

I have a neighbor that has about 400 more heated square footage but 0 tree's around his home. It bakes in the summer and his electric bill is as much as 3 times mine and he has a a ducted heat pump for AC. It irritates the hell out of him lol. Compared to him I estimate my summer electric bill savings at about 1k dollars.

I will say this about trees that fall on homes during storms. 80% of them are diseased trees that have never been properly cared for or are growing where they shouldn't be. Thats according to my arborist who submits tree risk assessments to insurance companies. I live in tornado, severe thunderstorm, Derecho and 80mph blizzard country. Most of the 6 tree's around my house are 80-300 years old, older than the house. I have 4 or 5 Sycamores that are well over 100 years old farther away from the house. As long as they are decently maintained (I have the arborist come out every 3-5 years for insurance purposes and to check on those specific trees within 10ft of my house) they will definitely outlive me, probably the house and hopefully another 200 or so years that they are capable of living. I'm saving about 200 a year on homeowners which is about what I pay every 3-4 years to maintain the trees, so there's 600-800 dollars.

I have a beautiful giant Rock Sugar Maple that the arborist cored (at his request) and it is over 300 years old. It's one of the oldest he's seen recorded in the state. Its the main shade tree over our back patio and the back of the house. The trunk is over 10ft in circumference and the canopy is roughly 75ft tall by 100 feet wide. Imagine the storms that tree has seen and survived.

This just my long winded opinion of course. Like I said, a lot depends on how sturdy your house is (mobile homes are like yikes!) and more importantly the actual health of the tree itself and the ground its rooted in i.e. does the ground around the tree hold water for a while water a rain or does it drain away fairly quickly.

Sorry for the long post lol. I ramble. Personally I couldn't live without them