• Greener homes, lesser taxes

  • green_home.jpg
    The stimulus plan approved by Congress in February offers tax credits for making your home more energy efficient. Kateri Callahan, president of the Alliance to Save Energy, a nonprofit group gives some tips on how this could be done. With the $1,500 allocated for tax credit for energy-efficiency upgrades like new insulation and windows homes can be greener. This covers four types of upgrades. The first batch is home-shell improvements like insulation, windows and sealing. These are designed to make the home tighter and close up leaks. The next batch is home heating, ventilating and air-conditioning, or HVAC. This includes efficient air-conditioners and furnaces. A third batch is renewable energy technology like geothermal heat pumps, solar water heating, small wind generators and photovoltaic systems. The last batch is hybrid and diesel cars.


    The first thing is to seal and insulate your house, which can reduce your heating and cooling bill by about 20 percent after getting an energy audit by checking the Web site of the local utility or state energy office, which sometimes offer an audit for free or for a nominal fee. The credits for the home shell are available if investments are made before December 31, 2010. Investments in renewal energy systems are eligible for credit until Dec. 31, 2016.
    [NYTimes]

    Posted in Topics:Awareness and Hype, Tags: , on May 2, 2009