Home Equity Loan,Energy Efficien Home And Healthy Living

Using Energy Efficient Air Conditioners

When the government imposes tax on citizens, the reasons can be various. The primary objective is to collect revenue for developmental work. But in certain cases, taxes or tax benefits are introduced to regulate our behavior. The bill to provide tax credit for investing on energy efficient air conditioners is one such example.

In 2005, the Energy Policy Act had the provision of allowing homeowners to be entitled to claim tax credits if they used a selection of energy saving items. The items include energy saving windows, doors, roofing furnace and boiler, water heater and air conditioner. This new provision has been made keeping an eye on the present global condition of energy resources. With regular fossil fuels getting scarcer by the day, conserving energy has become something of utmost importance. It also encourages the use of alternate forms of energy.

Of course not all models qualify for this tax credit and only a select few make you eligible. And those specific models are obviously more expensive than the regular models. The tax credit you get for using these energy efficient air conditioners can be anything up to $300. Add to that the fact that you will save about $10 every month which will add up to $120 in a year. So, you would be able to save about $420 annually which is not a meager amount. Any homeowner would be made to think with such an amount involved.

It should be realized that not all air conditioners are eligible for this credit and there are a few standards that a unit has to fulfill for you to be qualified for the tax credit. Some of these standards include:

- The Energy Efficiency Ratio (EER) has to be anything equal or higher than 13 though for some states it is relaxed to 12.5

- The unit needs to be installed by a certified technician.

- The Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio (SEER) has to be 15.

While the SEER rating is to monitor the performance of the air conditioner over the year, the EER takes stock of the air conditioners capacity to remain energy efficient even on a very hot day. For central air conditioners there is a different set of norms and standards that have been decided and quantified by the Consortium of Energy Efficiency (CEE). The regulations vary slightly from state to state.

By: J. Uvios