Tax incentives and more for your home
With the New Year, rules on tax incentives for energy efficient home upgrades have changed, but you should still be able to make changes, with no out of pocket costs---the savings should pay for themselves.
Federal incentives have been cut back, but homeowners can still clain $500 for new windows, efficient furnace or water heater or other energy saving possibilities.
New York has several incentives, including the Green Jobs Green New York program, aimed at renovating one million homes.
Income guidelines are generous for a free energy audit, and there are also low-cost loans to get the work done, as well as state tax credits.
Ellis Guiles, from TAG Mechanical, says the first step is an energy audit, a 'roadma' which would detail what work can save heat--and money. Financing can be done through several existing programs, he says, and lending institutions are becoming more willing because the upgrades are more valued by homebuyers. Guiles says a realtor's study shows that for every dollar reduction in the cost of heating in your home, the house gains $20 in value.
