Here’s How You Can Get Up to $14,000 For Home Renovations
This story is part of Home Tips, CNET’s collection of practical advice for getting the most out of your home, inside and out.
Energy-efficiency updates aren’t the flashiest of home improvement projects. No one invites their friends over to see their new attic insulation, like they might a new kitchen. But the US government is throwing money at a few of them to make them more affordable and a bit more common. It’s all in the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, which is projected to reduce climate-warming greenhouse gases by 40{5e8d5e6d3ec6f86b3ba11321f56f956b46cb0773559b038c125856e14d584eaa} by 2030.
If a homeowner took advantage of all the new rebates in the Inflation Reduction Act, which range from new electrical panels to heat pumps, they could save up to $14,000 all while making their home more energy efficient and lowering their energy bill for years to come. That also doesn’t include the solar tax credit, which was expanded from 26{5e8d5e6d3ec6f86b3ba11321f56f956b46cb0773559b038c125856e14d584eaa} of the total cost to 30{5e8d5e6d3ec6f86b3ba11321f56f956b46cb0773559b038c125856e14d584eaa} and can lock in even more energy savings.
You can find explanations of all the rebates for home energy efficiency and some handy guides that will help you estimate how much you can save. And you can save energy and money without big energy efficiency projects — check out the surprising savings you can make by turning off your lights, unplugging some appliances and sealing your windows with weatherstripping.
The importance of electric appliances and energy efficiency
There are two main benefits to making homes more energy-efficient and making them run on electricity: avoiding the worst of climate change and saving money.
Electrifying a house means swapping out fossil fuel-burning appliances for ones that run on electricity. When your natural gas furnace needs replacing, get a heat pump. When you need a new water heater, make sure it’s electric. This can save you hundreds of dollars a year, depending on where you live and your energy usage.
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Similarly, a well-sealed and insulated home can save an average of 15{5e8d5e6d3ec6f86b3ba11321f56f956b46cb0773559b038c125856e14d584eaa} on heating and cooling costs, the US Environmental Protection Agency said.
Because addressing climate change requires reducing fossil fuel consumption, reducing its use in your home is a step in that direction. Even if the electricity you use comes from coal, one of the most carbon intensive sources of energy, as your local utility opts for cheaper and greener energy sources in the future, your electricity consumption will go green right along with it.
The IRA is projected to reduce American carbon emissions by 42{5e8d5e6d3ec6f86b3ba11321f56f956b46cb0773559b038c125856e14d584eaa} by 2050, according to an analysis of the bill by a group of organizations led by the Zero Lab at Princeton. That’s still behind the stated goal of 50{5e8d5e6d3ec6f86b3ba11321f56f956b46cb0773559b038c125856e14d584eaa} by that time, but it’s a significant move, assuming the projection bears out.
Advertiser Disclosure: CNET’s corporate partner, SaveOnEnergy, can help you find the right energy fit for your home. The SaveOnEnergy marketplace helps you search, compare, sign up and save on the right energy fit for your home — all for free. If you’re interested in solar, answer a few questions to get an exact price quote from our solar advisors.
How to get an IRA rebate if you’re a homeowner
The IRA offers rebates for new technology and for sealing and insulating a home. Within a certain income bracket, you can get $8,000 back for a heat pump, $1,750 for a heat pump water heater and $840 for an electric range or oven and electric heat pump clothes dryer. Because adding hefty electrical appliances might overwhelm an older home’s electrical infrastructure, the bill also offers $4,000 for upgrading an electrical panel and up to $2,500 for wiring work. You can also get back up to $1,600 of the cost of insulation or air duct sealing, which will improve the efficiency of your heating and cooling system.
Households pulling in 80{5e8d5e6d3ec6f86b3ba11321f56f956b46cb0773559b038c125856e14d584eaa} to 150{5e8d5e6d3ec6f86b3ba11321f56f956b46cb0773559b038c125856e14d584eaa} of an area’s median income can get back 50{5e8d5e6d3ec6f86b3ba11321f56f956b46cb0773559b038c125856e14d584eaa} of the cost of these projects, up to the limits for individual items and up to $14,000 total. Households making below 80{5e8d5e6d3ec6f86b3ba11321f56f956b46cb0773559b038c125856e14d584eaa} of the median income can get back 100{5e8d5e6d3ec6f86b3ba11321f56f956b46cb0773559b038c125856e14d584eaa} of the cost.
The IRA also makes significant changes to a more familiar tax credit. Under the new rules, the federal solar tax credit for residential solar gets boosted from 26{5e8d5e6d3ec6f86b3ba11321f56f956b46cb0773559b038c125856e14d584eaa} to 30{5e8d5e6d3ec6f86b3ba11321f56f956b46cb0773559b038c125856e14d584eaa} and is locked in through 2032. It drops to 26{5e8d5e6d3ec6f86b3ba11321f56f956b46cb0773559b038c125856e14d584eaa} in 2033 and 22{5e8d5e6d3ec6f86b3ba11321f56f956b46cb0773559b038c125856e14d584eaa} in 2034. Before, the credit was at 26{5e8d5e6d3ec6f86b3ba11321f56f956b46cb0773559b038c125856e14d584eaa} and set to decrease to 22{5e8d5e6d3ec6f86b3ba11321f56f956b46cb0773559b038c125856e14d584eaa} in 2023 before disappearing altogether.
The IRA also creates tax credits for 30{5e8d5e6d3ec6f86b3ba11321f56f956b46cb0773559b038c125856e14d584eaa} of the cost of energy-efficiency improvements, including new windows ($600), doors ($500) and heat pumps ($2,000). Homeowners can claim up to $1,200 per year back on their taxes. Credits for efficiency decrease on the same schedule as solar.
The rebate program will be administered by the states, so the specifics of applying for and receiving rebates may vary. Most of the rebates and tax credits will be available starting in 2023. No matter where you live, though, you’ll likely soon get a hand paying the sometimes expensive cost of electrifying your home.
Since the IRA became law, several tools to help homeowners understand what it means for them have popped up. An explainer from the White House shows how rebates and credits on certain purchases change if they’re made in 2022 or after, depending on the size and income of the household. Rewiring America, a nonprofit organization that lobbies for electrification projects including the IRA, has a calculator that shows how much you can save and when, broken down by project.
The actual process of acquiring these rebates and credits will vary by location, since state governments are responsible for administering the funds.
For more, learn how the Inflation Reduction Act could save you money on health care costs.
