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October 8, 2007

Energy efficiency -- There's no better time than now

Hi everybody,

Thanks for all your comments and excitement about going green at home. Almost every one of your comments mentioned energy efficiency improvements.

Here are two reasons that's a smart thing to do as soon as possible this fall --

1. First -- environmentally -- did you know that home energy use in the U.S. results in more carbon emissions than all U.S. cars combined? Ouch.

2. Second, there's money in it. Not only will you save money over the long haul, on your monthly energy bills. But you'll also save on your tax bill if you act before December 31, 2007. The federal government is offering an income tax credit of up to $500 for certain energy-efficient home improvements. The Alliance to Save Energy has published this summary of the energy efficiency tax credits.

I would love to hear more of your ideas and experiences making your home energy smart. How much money are you saving??? Have any of you taken advantage of the $500 tax credit? Have you found other tax credits or savings programs we should know about?


Willem Maas
Publisher, GreenHomeGuide.com

Posted by wmaas at October 8, 2007 3:22 PM

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Comments

Hawaiian Electric Company (HECO) offers $1000 instant rebate on Solar Water heating installs.

The State of Hawaii offers a 35% tax credit for the installation, and the IRS offers another 30%.

My $6000 installation job last month cost me a check for $5000, and I will be getting $3250 back from my taxes in the spring, for a net cost of ~ $1750.

Realtor thinks property value's gone up at least that much. A more thorough ROI calculation shows it'll pay for itself in ~ 36 months, although it'd be much quicker if we had teenagers.

Don't take my calculations at face value, though - I pay $0.20/KWH, but I also get seven or eight hours of usable sunshine on the collector plate for 330+ days/year (leeward/west Oahu).

See IRS Form 5695 for limits - 30 percent of installation costs for solar water and solar electricity (capped at $2000) are a tax *credit*.

Posted by: SDCarroll at October 10, 2007 1:10 AM

Wow! So you're paying 29% of the actual cost of that solar install. It's even better than that actually because the State of Hawaii and the Feds are giving you a tax *credit* which is more valuable than a tax deduction.

I've got a great website for you if you're considering a solar or energy efficiency project. Check out dsireusa.org -- Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency. They've got a state by state list of tax credits, rebates, etc available from state and local government as well as utilities.

http://www.dsireusa.org/Index.cfm?EE=0&RE=1


Willem Maas
Publisher, GreenHomeGuide.com

Posted by: Willem Maas at October 10, 2007 3:00 PM

I am sooooo happy to see DIY doing the green thing. I've been doing research in green for over 30 years, but have never had the opportunity (made the opportunity) to execute on my ideas. This is fantastic!!!!!
I totally look forward to reading all the inputs from everyone to increase my knowledge -- and I intend to participate to pass some of the information I've obtained.
I hope that DIY will do an "alternative energy" "green" series and present it in a more detailed manner than the usual shows. I mean, there could be a whole series just on photo voltaic systems, types, sizes, specifications, thin, thick, monocrystalline, polycrystalline......
Another set of shows on water power generation, water heating, ocean tides. Still more about wind, garbage -- I could go on and on....

This kind of site for those kinds of conversations has my mind going 100MPH!!!!

Thanks ya'll.....

See ya in the BLOG's
cheers
goose Gosswiller

Posted by: goose at October 15, 2007 10:03 PM