Cash In on the Tax Credit!
You could save up to $500 on insulation, skyghlights, doors, roofs, or other energy efficiency updates with the new energy tax credit. A recent survey shows that millions of U.S. homeowners plan on cashing in.
Tax Credit: 10% of cost up to $500 ($200 for Windows and Skylights)
Expires: must be installed by December 31, 2011
Details: must be an existing home and your principal residence. New construction and rentals do not qualify.
What is "principal residence?"
The tax credit for energy efficiency is available for improvements made to a home that you own and use as your "principal residence." This is the home where you live most of the time. A temporary absence due to special circumstances, such as illness, education, business, military service, or vacation will not change your principal residence.The home must be in the United States. It can include a house, houseboat, mobile home, cooperative apartment, condominium, and a manufactured home.
Which products are eligible for a Tax Credits for Energy Efficient Home Improvements? Are they available for new construction also? What about vacation homes? Rental properties?
Tax credits are available at 10% of the cost, up to $500 total, in 2011. Only for exisitng homes, NOT new construction, that are your principal residence.
Insulation: Typical bulk insulation products can qualify, such as batts, rolls, blow-in fibers, rigid boards, expanding spray, and pour-in-place.
Products that air seal (reduce air leaks) can also qualify as long as they come with a Manufacturer's Certification Statement, including:
- Weather stripping
- Spray foam in can, designed to air seal
- Caulk designed to air seal
- House wrap
Roofs (Metal and Asphalt): Metal roofs with appropriate pigmented coatings and asphalt roofs with appropriate cooling granules that also meet ENERGY STAR requirements. Tax credit does not include installation costs. The roofs that are eligible are "reflective roofs." Reflective roofs are not for everyone. They will provide the most benefit in hot sunny climates where you are using your air conditioning a lot. If your house is already shaded and the roof is not exposed to much sun, then a reflective roof may not provide a significant benefit. The benefits will also be lessened if your attice space is well insulated.
Source:
The law (Section 25C(c)(2)(A)) specifies: … any insulation material or system which is specifically and primarily designed to reduce the heat loss or gain of a dwelling unit when installed in or on such dwelling unit, and meets the prescriptive criteria for such material or system established by the 2009 International Energy Conservation Code, as such Code (including supplements) is in effect on the date of the enactment of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Tax Act of 2009,
The IRS (Notice 2009-53) specifics: (a) An insulation material or system (including any vapor retarder or seal to limit infiltration) that--(i) Is specifically and primarily designed (within the meaning of section 4.03 of this notice) to reduce heat loss or gain of a dwelling unit when installed in or on the dwelling unit; and(ii) May be taken into account in determining whether the building thermal envelope requirements established by the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) are satisfied.
