On his podcast, Clark Howard answers real reader questions on money, credit, debt, retirement, travel, and more, along with co-host Christa DiBiase.

Clark's answer: While I don't know why you're tapping into your home's equity, the key factor to keep in mind is 36 months.

If you plan to borrow against your home equity for 36 months or less, you are usually better off getting a home equity line of credit with a floating interest rate. A lot of financial institutions — particularly credit unions — will cover the setup costs for free on those HELOCs.

However, if you are redoing a kitchen, for example, and you know you can't pay it back within the next two or three years, then you should go with a home equity loan. Again, look at credit unions, as this is a big product for them, and borrow at a fixed rate for five years.

While some credit unions will lend you home equity money for 10 or 15 years, their risk profile is much higher for those longer terms, meaning the interest rates will be much, much higher. Five-year fixed-rate money is ideal for a home improvement project. Just remember: The only reason to tap your home's equity is to improve your home — that is the only reason.