If you haven’t taken advantage of the government’s $1,500 tax credit to make your home more energy efficient, there may still be time. The tax credit expires on December 31st this year.
While you might not have time for major jobs, such as replacing all of the windows in your home with new energy efficient ones, there are still plenty of improvements that can be completed by the end of the year, qualifying you for the $1,500 tax credit. We really don’t know if or when the tax credit will come around again, so be sure to do what you can to take advantage of it.
Here are some ideas.
- Replace your current furnace or boiler with a new one that is more efficient.
- Seal your home by adding weather stripping, spray foam, etc.
- Add heavy insulation to your attic or basement.
- Replace a drafty front door or add a storm door. Do the same with a back door.
- Add insulation to a drop ceiling.
- Install a wood pellet stove or other stove that burns clean bio-mass fuel.
- If you have an attached unheated garage, add insulation to the wall or walls that attach to the main part of your home.
- Replace less efficient appliances, such as washers, refrigerators and dish washers with newer higher rated energy star ones.
If you aren’t sure where to begin, you can get more information and guidelines at energystar.gov. You can also hire a professional to perform an energy audit on your home to identify problem areas where heat may be escaping.
We had an energy audit done over the summer, and it really was amazing to see the analysis. Items that we thought would be causing the most problems, such as the windows, paled in comparison to other areas, such as the attic which we thought was already insulated well.