Comments on: Tax credits for home upgrades

By: Cutest Little Tax Deduction Edition

Cutest Little Tax Deduction Edition — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 15:28:46 +0000

[...] Tax credits for home upgrades. My wife and I took advantage of similar tax breaks two years ago when we added insulation to our house. Save money on utilities and get a tax break. Win-win! [...]

By: Roundup - Cutest Little Tax Deduction Edition - Articles, tips and advice on how to become debt free in 2009 (and beyond…) - Debt Free in 2009

Sun, 26 Jul 2009 13:09:47 +0000

By: ChristianPF

ChristianPF — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 22:20:09 +0000

TImely Post GLBL,
we are moving into our new house in a few months and I am going to want to make it as energy efficient as possible… thanks!

By: How much would insulation cool my work shop down? | Shop Power

How much would insulation cool my work shop down? | Shop Power — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 14:11:43 +0000

[...] Tax credits for home upgrades [...]

By: Charlie Bergen

Charlie Bergen — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 10:03:04 +0000

I have a list of quite a few great HVAC guys that I can save you money with due to the fact that we continue to use them. Let me know if you want any of that info.

By: Dramon

Dramon — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 00:02:23 +0000

We need to re-roof and we found that some metal roofs qualify for the tax credits as well.

I do agree with the previous comment that if you calculate the savings compared to what it cost to install, it often has a very long payback. I wish all states had good web sites to compare options. Many companies will promise huge savings while delivering little. For example, we went with a middle of the road air conditioner in terms of SEER and our neighbors did the super high effeciency one. They spent over 5,000 more than we did and save about $50 per month during the summer. In my mind, not a good investment.

Of course some people will choose it for comfort or other reasons; just need to be careful of the savings compared with investments.

By: Tyler@FrugallyGreen

Tyler@FrugallyGreen — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 13:43:02 +0000

Great post! Many states also offer tax incentives on top of the federal ones recently enacted. Make sure you look into what your state will offer as well. In Oregon, we have the Energy Trust to help consumers navigate all of their options.

As for doors and windows, I’m curious how you decided that they were worth replacing. My understanding has always been that new windows, while they certainly improve your energy efficiency, they are a very long term investment, meaning that most people will need to own their home for around 20 years or so before they fully recoup the cost of the upgrade.