Archive for August, 2009

Stimulus Money for Green Appliances

After a tremendous response to the Cash for Clunkers program, the federal government is offering up stimulus money to individual states to offer rebates for the purchase of Energy Star labeled appliances. This program was rolled out earlier this summer and states had to send a letter of intent to participate by the middle of Aug.  The initial funding allotments per state will start to be dispersed in the fall and states will be required by the middle of October to provide a written plan to the Federal Govt with regards to what items will be included and how much the rebates will be worth.   The Dept of Energy estimates funding this program to the tune of 300mil and these rebates may be hitting consumers as early as the latter part of this year or early next year.  EXCITING!!  I personally know of some folks with clunkers that really made out on the cash for clunkers so it’s exciting to see this transferring in to the homes. In addition, there is the potential for some of these items to overlap with federal tax credits already on the table not to mention the potential for energy savings.

I am paraphrasing a much more thorough article from The Tennessean today.  Please refer to it for more detail and of course more to come as I find out how and if TN will be participating.

NES In Home Energy Evaluation

NES has recently rolled out a program where you can have an Evaluator come out and look at your systems, such as A/C ducting, windows, insulation, general sealing and will give you a comprehensive list of improvements you can make to cut your energy consumption. The cost is $150 and if you do $150 worth of the work they will refund the entire cost of the inspection. In addition they will offer 50% rebate of up to $500 worth of more work you complete from the report. It get’s more exciting because the federal govt is offering a straight 30% credit or up to $1500 for many of these same components and you can stack these two programs.  The NES in Home Energy Evaluation is an excellent way for you to start retrofitting your home and get some help with the costs in the process.  Many of the participating Evaluators own their own Energy Auditing companies and are very qualified to be conducting these evaluations and knowledgeable about the technologies available to you.