energy rebates

[K-Man]

We just finished our remodel, and I want to take advantage of any rebates / tax credits, etc. What receipts should I ask for from the contractor?

 

[accuratehorn]

You need to know which items are eligible for the rebates. Some items are eligible as cost of materials only, some are eligible for materials and installation costs. The contractor may or may not know the correct answeres.
You need $5000 worth of eligible items to get the maximum rebate of $1500. If your low E double pane window costs were over $5000 (materials only), you don't need any more receipts. I believe an energy star rated roof is eligible for both materials and installation costs.
That is for the federal income tax credit (there is a bigger credit for solar, geothermal and wind installations).
There are also credits available from City of Austin Energy department and maybe your natural gas provider. Other electricity providers have some rebates as well. Check all three of these sources, they will have websites explaining their various programs.
Your remodel energy efficient items must meet the current standards to get the rebate. For windows, the standard has changed a couple of times fairly recently. Make sure they meet the current standard.

 

[7Titles]

there is a program that you get 30% of the cost and its not capped at 1500, I forget what items it applied to, but it applied to our heating/air system

 

[accuratehorn]

That's only for geothermal, solar or wind installation projects, I'm fairly sure, 7Titles. All other items have the 30% cap, up to a $1500 maximum.
The IRS instructions for the residential energy credit spell it out pretty clearly. The first part of the form is for items capped under the 30% limit, max of $1500, and the second part of the form is for the items which qualify for the bigger rebates.

 

[7Titles]

That sounds right, the credit we got ended up roughly covering teh cost difference between our geothermal and a conventional system.

 

[RayDog]

That is typical, manufacturers and sellers price energy star products so that they get your rebate.

 

[7Titles]

perhaps, but when we bought the system the reabate was capped in teh several thousand range, some bill at the end of 2009 removed the cap, we ended up with a 12K rebate

On a sour note we missed the repeat homebuyer credit (worth 6 or 8K) by exactly 6 weeks. As in we got the residency permit 6 weeks to early.