By Daniel Bortz
From Kiplinger’s Personal Finance
Sometimes you need to spend money to save money. That’s true when it comes to making home improvements to lower your energy bill.
Here are some home improvements to consider:
Order an Energy Audit
Many experts recommend that before you make any home improvements, you should get an energy audit, a whole-house diagnostic assessment by an energy professional that will identify ways you can make your home more efficient.A home energy audit typically costs between $200 and $700, often depending on the size of your home, according to Angi, a home-services website.
See whether your utility company provides a subsidy or rebate for an energy audit, says Joel Rosenberg, a researcher at the nonprofit Rewiring America. Homeowners may also be eligible for a federal tax credit of 30 percent of the cost of an energy audit, with a maximum credit of $150 per year.
Get a Customized Plan With This Online Tool
Rewiring America recently released a Personal Electrification Planner (https://homes.rewiringamerica.org/personal-electrification-planner), which you can use to get an energy-efficiency plan tailored to you based on your home, lifestyle, and goals. Plug in your home’s address, square footage and a few other details, and the planner will generate a list of home improvements, including cost estimates for each project, as well as the annual energy savings and carbon-emission reductions they’ll provide.Earn Energy Tax Credits
The Inflation Reduction Act, a sweeping piece of legislation signed in 2022, offers tax credits and deductions for energy-efficient home improvements. The Energy Efficient Home Improvement Credit lets homeowners claim a tax credit for up to 30 percent of the cost of certain energy-efficient improvements, up to $1,200 per year. Even more generous: Homeowners can qualify for a yearly credit of 30 percent of the cost, up to $2,000 per year, for heat-pump water heaters and heat pumps for heating and cooling your home that meet the highest “non-advanced” efficiency tier set by the Consortium for Energy Efficiency (CEE).Outfit Your Home With Energy-Efficient Appliances
Over their lifetimes, Energy Star-certified appliances can reduce greenhouse-gas emissions by about 130,000 pounds and save an estimated $11,000 on your home’s energy bills, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. You can see whether your utility provider offers rebates for Energy Star appliances at https://www.energystar.gov/rebate-finder.You may also be eligible for a rebate through the Home Electrification & Appliance Rebates program, depending on your income and where you live; for more, see https://homes.rewiringamerica.org/federal-incentives/home-electrification-appliance-rebates.
Consider Solar Panels
It costs about $30,000, on average, to purchase and install a 10-kilowatt solar system, according to EnergySage. Fortunately, the Inflation Reduction Act provides homeowners with a 30 percent tax credit for solar installations until 2032. (The credit drops to 26 percent for solar systems installed in 2033, falls to 22 percent for systems installed in 2034 and then expires.) That means now could be a good time to install solar panels, depending on how long you plan to own your home. For a typical home, it takes about seven to eight years to break even, EnergySage says. Homeowners who install a solar panel system can save anywhere from $28,000 to $120,000 over 25 years.Related Stories
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