Use HVAC Tax Credits Before They Expire At The End Of 2011 And You’ll Drive Household Energy Savings

Use HVAC Tax Credits Before They Expire At The End Of 2011 And You’ll Drive Household Energy Savings

With tax credits for energy-efficient HVAC equipment expiring at the end of 2011, time is quickly running out to purchase a new system for your home. You only have a short time left to upgrade to a more efficient unit at a discounted price.

Before you upgrade to new equipment, it’s important that you check and make sure that it does, in fact, meet the eligibility requirements for the tax credits. One way to do that is to ask your HVAC contractor for the manufacturers statement of the device you are thinking about buying. This statement will provide you with the information you need in order to determine if the desired system is eligible for the tax credits.

Listed below is eligibility requirements for a number of different systems, as well as the value of the tax credit you can receive:

• Gas, propane or oil furnace ($150 tax credit) – In order to qualify for the credits, a new furnace must have an Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency (AFUE) rating of at least 95.
• Air-source heat pump systems ($300 tax credit) – To receive the tax credit for a split system air-source heat pump, the system’s Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio (SEER) must be 15 or above. To get the credit for a package system, the SEER must be at least 14.
• Geothermal heat pumps (30 percent tax credit) – To receive the credit for a geothermal unit that is a closed-loop system — which holds heat with closed piping — the system must have an Energy Efficiency Ratio (EER) of 14.1 or higher, and a Coefficient of Performance (COP) — the measure of efficiency as related to the system’s heating capacity versus its energy input — of 3.3 or higher. For open-loop geothermal systems — where heat fluid is a part of a larger environment — the EER has to be 16.2 or higher and the COP has to be at least 3.6.

As 2011 is coming to an end, it would be smart to upgrade to a new system now. For more help on choosing equipment eligible for the 2011 HVAC tax credits, contact the experts at Air-Tro today.

Our goal is to help educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).  For more information about tax credits and other HVAC topics, visit our website.

Air-Tro Inc. services the greater Los Angeles area as well as the metro areas of Riverside and San Bernardino County.

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