The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) extends, expands, and simplifies the federal income tax credits for homeowners who make energy efficiency home improvements. The law extends the consumer tax benefits for another year, through 2010; triples the total available tax credit from $500 to $1,500; and increases the tax credit to 30 percent of the cost of each qualified energy efficiency improvement. The law also removes the cap on geothermal heat pumps and solar water heaters through 2016.
For improvements made in 2009 and 2010, you can get an income tax credit of up to $1,500 for installing efficient new windows, insulation, doors, roofs, and heating and cooling equipment in your home. However, efficiency criteria will vary dependant on when these items are "placed in service" (installed).
Who gets it? Individuals who install specific energy-efficient home improvements.
What energy-efficient home improvements are eligible? The overall $1,500 cap can be reached in several ways with the purchase and installation of energy-efficient products that meet certain efficiency criteria:
Exterior windows: Includes skylights and storm windows.
Insulation, exterior doors, or roofs: Includes seals to limit air infiltration, such as caulk, weather stripping, and foam sealants, as well as storm doors.
Central air conditioner, heat pump, furnace, boiler, water heater, or biomass (e.g. corn) stove: Starting in 2009, geothermal heat pumps are instead eligible for a separate tax credit—see Section 5 below.
Section 6.4 of this document contains the detailed criteria for the products and effective dates (in general only some Energy Star products qualify). Individuals can also search for qualifying heating and cooling products on the Consortium for Energy Efficiency’s web site.
In addition, to be eligible for the federal tax credits:
Windows, doors, insulation, and roofs must be expected to last at least five years (a two-year warranty is sufficient to demonstrate this).
Manufacturers can certify (in packaging or on the company’s web site) which of their products qualify for the tax credit. Retailers, contractors, and manufacturers should be able to help you determine what levels of insulation and what other products qualify.
All the improvements must be installed in or on the taxpayer’s principal residence in the United States. Condo and co-op improvements are apportioned to the owners.
For all the details, click here.
Source: Alliance to Save Energy
As part of the yearly New Year's resolution-making ritual, the Alliance to Save Energy encourages consumers to check out their home's physical fitness and, depending on its overall state of health, put it on an "energy diet."
How is your Home's "Physical Fitness?"
The "physical fitness" of your home can make the difference between soaring energy bills or comfortable savings this winter. By cutting wasteful energy use, an energy-efficient home is a strong defense against winter winds, rain, sleet, snow, and chill while also reducing air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions and increasing national security.
And Uncle Sam is offering another incentive for putting your home on an energy diet: A 30 percent tax credit - a dollar-for-dollar reduction in your income taxes owed - of up to $1,500 during the remainder of 2009 and throughout 2010 for specific energy efficiency home improvements. Details on qualifying products, including insulation and sealing products, highly efficient furnaces, heat pumps, and windows, are available at www.ase.org/taxcredits.
The Alliance offers consumers step-by-step home physical fitness tips to cut energy bills and increase comfort:
Is Your Home Leaking Energy Dollars?
First plug air leaks. Your heating and cooling dollars could be going out your windows, doors, and electrical outlets. Seal all those air leaks with sealant or caulking and weather stripping.
Then, "insulate" yourself from price shocks. Install appropriate insulation for your climate based on R-values. Start with attic insulation, followed by exterior and basement walls, floors, and crawl spaces. Insulate and seal attic air ducts. These two first steps will increase your comfort, make your home quieter, and reduce your heating and cooling costs by up to 20 percent.
Go "window shopping" at www.efficientwindows.org to discover how high-performance ENERGY STAR-labeled windows can cut heating costs by as much as 30 percent compared to single-pane windows, while increasing indoor comfort and lessening fading of home furnishings.
Improve How You Care for and Heat Your Home
Heating accounts for 31 percent of the typical home's energy costs. Sealing and insulating your home, as well as the other energy efficiency measures below, will lower your heating bills, increase your comfort, and decrease your carbon footprint.
Properly maintain your HVAC system. Just as a tune-up for your car can improve your gas mileage, a semi-annual or yearly tune-up of your heating and cooling system can improve efficiency and comfort. The federal government's ENERGY STAR website can help you find a qualified individual (www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=heat_cool.pr_contractors_10tips).
Keep furnace filters clean. Check your filter every month, especially during heavy use months (winter and summer), and change it if it looks dirty. At a minimum, change the filter every three months. A dirty filter will slow down air flow and make the system work harder to keep you warm - wasting energy. A clean filter will also prevent dust and dirt from building up in the system, which could require expensive maintenance and/or cause early system failure.
Seal your heating and cooling ducts. In a typical house with a forced air system, about 20 percent of the air that moves through the duct system is lost due to leaks, holes, and poorly connected ducts. Sealing and insulating ducts increases efficiency, lowers home energy bills, and can often pay for itself in energy savings. Insulate ducts in unheated areas such as attics, crawlspaces, and garages with duct insulation that carries an R-value of 6 or higher. Also, a well-designed and sealed duct system may make it possible to downsize to a smaller, less costly heating and cooling system that will provide better dehumidification.
Let a programmable thermostat "remember for you" to lower the heat while your home is empty and/or overnight to reduce heating costs by up to 10 percent - and allow you to come home and wake up to a toasty, comfortable house.
Have to replace your HVAC equipment? Consider installing ENERGY STAR-qualified heating and cooling equipment. Installed correctly, these high-efficiency units can save up to 20 percent on heating and cooling costs. And, certain highly efficient models qualify for the current federal income tax credit.
Open curtains and other window treatments on your west- and south-facing windows during the day to allow sunlight to naturally heat your home, and close them at night.
Another Major Tip
Replacing or purchasing energy-using and energy-related products? Save up to 30 percent in related energy bills with products earning the ENERGY STAR label, the symbol of energy efficiency, on some 50 product categories, including appliances, electronics, windows, lighting, and home office equipment. See www.energystar.gov.
The Alliance offers consumers more money-saving energy tips on its website -- www.ase.org/consumers.
The Alliance to Save Energy is a coalition of prominent business, government, environmental, and consumer leaders who promote the efficient and clean use of energy worldwide to benefit consumers, the environment, the economy, and national security.
SOURCE Alliance to Save Energy
Bring your Christmas Tree to one of the locations listed below December 28, 2009 through January 15, 2010 between the hours of 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. (Please remove all tinsel, ornaments, lights, nails and tree stands before dropping off the tree for recycling)
Free mulch will be available at the Northwest Transfer Station and McCommas Bluff Landfill after January 1, 2010, and is available for residential customers only. Bring your shovel and containers!
For more information call City of Dallas at 3-1-1.
Northwest (Bachman) Transfer Station 9500 Harry Hines Blvd. (Monday – Saturday)
Southwest (Oak Cliff) Transfer Station 4610 S.Westmoreland Road (Monday – Saturday)
McCommas Bluff Landfill 5100 Youngblood Rd. (Monday – Saturday)
Fair Oaks Transfer Station 7677 Fair Oaks Ave. (Monday – Saturday)
Flag Pole Hill Northwest Hwy. at Buckner Blvd. (Monday – Sunday)
And, please recycle your Christmas cards, holiday gift wrap, gift bags, gift boxes, cardboard boxes (no Styrofoam), tissue paper and your holiday party items such as aluminum cans, plastic and glass bottles!
1 Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, Alexandria, VA
2 International Academy, Bloomfield Hills, MI
3 Whitney High School, Cerritos, CA
4 Oxford Academy, Cypress, CA
5 School for the Talented and Gifted at Yvonne A. Ewell Townview Center Dallas, TX
6 Newcomers High School, Long Island City, NY
7 Pacific Collegiate School Santa Cruz, CA
8 School of Science and Engineering Magnet Dallas, TX
9 BASIS Tucson, Tucson, AZ
10 International School, Bellevue, WA
Read the full article here.
Source: US News and World Report
Dallas Water Utilities (DWU) recommends that residential and business property owners reprogram their sprinkler systems for the winter months, and DWU’s licensed irrigators are available to check your system for leaks and other problems.
Plants need much less water when the temperatures are cooler. Most plants, including lawns, go dormant this time of year and need just enough water to keep the roots alive.
“This is a good time for Dallas property owners to make seasonal adjustments to their irrigation system controllers,” said DWU Conservation Program Manager Carole Davis. “As a free service to our customers, DWU irrigation specialists are available to check systems for leaks and other problems,” Davis added.
After checking each customer’s system, the DWU irrigation specialists will make recommendations for the seasonal adjustment of sprinkler systems and any necessary repairs. (The property owner is responsible for any repairs.)
For more information contact:
Yvonne Dupré- Dallas WaterUtilities
(214) 671-9276
yvonne.dupre@dallascityhall.com
Noel Nielson - Dallas Water Utilities
(214) 670-5378
noel.nielson@dallascityhall.com
Sales of new homes rose 6.2% in October 2009 on strong results in the South, the Commerce Department estimated recently.
The rise in U.S. new-home sales to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 430,000 was well above the 390,000 pace that economists surveyed by MarketWatch had expected.
Sales rose 23.2% in the South. By contrast, monthly sales fell by 20% in the Midwest, and by 5.1% in both the Northeast and the West.
“On the surface, one would have assumed that the surge in sales activity was induced by the rush of first-time home buyers trying to get ahead of the originally scheduled end of the first-time homebuyers’ tax credit at the end of October,” wrote Millan Mulraine, economics strategist with TD Securities, in a research note. “However, given the lopsided regional dimension to the increase in home sales, we are not entirely convinced that this was the only story.”
The government cautions that its housing data are subject to large sampling and other statistical errors, with large revisions common. It can take up to six months for a trend in sales to emerge.
The pace of new-home sales in September also was revised slightly higher, to a level of 405,000. New-home sales are up 5.1% compared with a year ago, the government’s data showed.
The supply of homes on the market fell to 239,000 in October, representing a 6.7-month supply.
The median sales price in October hit $212,200, compared with $213,200 in the prior year.
(c) 2009, MarketWatch.com Inc. RISMEDIA
