As of April 7th the May 1st high efficiency mandate has been delayed. The delay stems from a challenge being pressed by APGA to suspend the mandate indefinitely. The department of energy stated they will not be enforcing the mandate until the court reaches a settlement. What this means for you is that there is still some time to have 80% efficient furnaces installed in your home, though at this point it is not known how long it will take for them to reach a settlement or what the agreement will be.
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Tax credits are back. and retroactive.
That’s right as part of fiscal cliff legislation, signed into law by President Obama on January 2, the 2011 energy tax credits are back for 2013 and are retroactive for qualifying equipment installed in 2012. So if you had a high efficiency furnace, air conditioner, heat pump, or water heater installed in 2012, you could qualify for up to a 300$ tax credit. If your thinking of upgrading to higher efficiency equipment, this year could be last time to take advantage of these extra credits.
So what qualifies? Gas furnaces of 95% AFUE qualify for 150$ credit. If it has a variable speed motor it gets you an extra 50$ on top of that. Heat pumps of 15 or more SEER and air conditioners of 16 or more SEER can qualify for a 300$ tax credit.
some more info can be found here.
http://www.hvacdist.com/current-tax.asp
Random photos
I have been terrible about taking before and after pictures lately, and even worse about posting anything on here. but here are the few random photos I have gotten over the last few weeks.
Got an aging furnace?
You may want to have it replaced sooner rather than later. Because when May first comes the government is mandating all new furnaces be 90% efficient or higher. That means the current industry standard 80% efficient furnaces will no longer be sold in our area. Why wouldn’t you want to buy a 90%+ efficient furnace? well there are several reasons why people don’t want to upgrade. One reason is cost, right now you can get an 80% efficient furnace for around 1700$ installed. A 90% in the same place would be close to 2300$ at minimum. Obviously the 90% will be cheaper to run and pay off in the long run but the up front cost could be too much. Typically in rental situations the home owner is responsible for purchasing the furnace but the renter pays the utility bills so the extra money would never be recouped. In some cases high efficiency furnaces don’t look as nice. Because 90%+ efficient furnaces produce water as a byproduct of cooling exhaust gas below dew point, they have to use a different exhaust. They use pvc piping as exhaust which must be run outside. Some homes aren’t designed in a way to allow this to be easily done, and the venting may need to be run across ceilings and in exposed areas of your home. Along with the exhaust is also a drain pipe to be ran to the outside. In rare cases the exhaust will need to be run up through the second floor to the roof of the house and chases will need to be added at the homeowners expense. Another reason some people may not want a higher efficiency furnace is the repair costs. Although Pilchuck Heating gives 10 year warranties with our furnaces some companies do not. And there are a few more things to go wrong on high efficiency furnaces. For example, most 90%+ use a pump to remove drain water.
Just because the furnaces wont be sold any more doesn’t mean you shouldn’t buy one. The mandate is only in high heat demand areas like ours. So the parts will still be manufactured and sold for years to come. The warranties will also be honored for the full duration. Typically 10 years on parts.
We at Pilchuck Heating almost always recommend 90%+ furnaces for several reasons. Lower bills, better warranties, more environmentally friendly, quieter, and higher comfort level are just a few of the reasons. In the end the mandate will be better for everyone, But for those of you with special circumstances and who aren’t ready for the jump you are almost out of time!