As a part of the Clear Power Technology, Larry Heiman used tax incentives and rebates to slash the price of upgrading his Georgia residence to assist curb climate-warming air pollution. Now, he is spreading the phrase so others in his group can do the identical.
Reed Winckler | February 16, 2024
| Clear Power Technology, Power Effectivity, Georgia
If the considered implementing clear power in your house is daunting, you aren’t alone. For many people, even small steps like small-scale power effectivity upgrades, and particularly bigger ones like putting in rooftop photo voltaic panels, appear to be unattainable objectives, particularly when the prices for every improve preserve racking up.
It is very important keep in mind that not each improve must be finished without delay, and that there are sources and funding accessible to assist make power upgrades extra inexpensive. As a part of the Clear Power Technology, you may select to make residence power upgrades to profit you and your loved ones’s well being, lower your expenses on power payments, and play a component in making your group safer and cleaner, irrespective of your age, earnings, zip code, or skills.
Larry Heiman from Dunwoody, Georgia, is one member of the Clear Power Technology who’s tackling power inefficiencies and carbon air pollution in his residence by making residence power upgrades – and he had slightly assist. Larry has taken benefit of tax credit and rebates from the Inflation Discount Act (IRA) and his native utility firm virtually each step of the best way as he has made his clear power transition. This monetary help made his option to take the leap to sort out inefficiencies much less daunting. All through this course of, Larry has realized quite a bit about clear power and about learn how to benefit from accessible sources, and now he’s spreading the phrase to his group.
Tune into our subsequent Clear Power Technology webinar on Friday, March 1 from 12:30 PM – 1:30 PM ET to hear extra from Larry and SACE employees about how every of us can play a job within the Clear Power Technology by making residence power upgrades, and skim on to study Larry’s path to utilizing clear power in his residence, the monetary incentives his household used alongside the best way, and the way he’s sharing what he’s realized to assist others.
Register for the Webinar on March 1
What was the primary means you took benefit of tax credit and rebates from each the IRA and your native utility?
I’ve at all times been concerned about and apprehensive about local weather change, however so far as my very own private life, I didn’t take any motion till final 12 months. I had realized about and adopted the Inflation Discount Act (IRA) and thought quite a lot of it could possibly be utilized broadly, so I figured why not dive in and do one thing myself. That’s the way it began, and I selected to start out with my automobile. The very first thing we did was purchase an EV final April with the assistance of a $7,500 rebate.
Shortly after, we put in a degree two EV charger, which we didn’t get any tax credit score for from the IRA as a result of we aren’t in an eligible census tract. A lot of Georgia and the Southeast usually does fall into eligible tracts, like lower-income or rural, and might obtain a 30% tax credit score on EV charger set up prices. Ultimately, we did get a rebate from Georgia Energy, so it’s good to test along with your utility for these.
Our EV is our workhorse automobile – we use it to take our daughter to highschool and drive to work, and we attempt to use it any time we drive round city. Very not too long ago, we have been in a position to commerce in my outdated automobile for a plug-in hybrid EV, however earlier than that, we had the one EV. It doesn’t must be all or nothing – or all new off the lot. Now, many individuals can rise up to a $4,000 tax credit score on sure pre-owned EVs on the supplier.
What power effectivity measures have you ever taken round your home, and the way did you get began with these?
After shopping for our EV, we put in photo voltaic panels in July 2023, however on reflection, I’d not advocate putting in photo voltaic first to impress your own home. The power effectivity work as an alternative needs to be the baseline – it’s like placing a bandaid over paper cuts throughout your home.
We purchased our home in Dunwoody, Georgia 10 years in the past. It’s 53 years outdated and your common two-story residence, in-built an period the place folks didn’t care or know an excessive amount of about power effectivity. To learn to make the home extra power environment friendly, I’ve had two power audits: first via my utility with a rebate, and second via an area HVAC contractor. The second audit was essentially the most helpful. I bought an in depth report from assessments they carried out round my home, resembling a blower door take a look at. They identified locations round my residence that could possibly be sealed higher, from most essential to least essential.
For instance, now we have a basement that has heating and cooling, the place it’s not as essential for us to air seal between that house and the primary flooring as a result of the trade of air is about the identical temperature. However in our unconditioned attic, they checked how the insulation is holding up and the place air sealing is required, and so they confirmed me that there are a lot of locations the place air passes out and in of our attic, like round recessed lighting receptacles, the door to the attic, and holes the place wires move via. So that they beneficial caulking every air leak on a hole-by-hole foundation and including higher insulation, or spray foaming the attic, which is insulation and an air sealing resolution abruptly.
So this 12 months, we plan to do the attic air sealing and insulation enhancements to save lots of on power payments instantly, and to organize our residence for putting in a warmth pump within the close to future, in order that our residence will be heated and cooled extra effectively. To offset among the price of the air sealing and insulation, we plan to make use of each tax credit from the IRA (25C tax credit score of as much as $1,200 per 12 months) in addition to rebates from Georgia Energy. After we at some point substitute our current HVAC system with a warmth pump, we are able to additionally obtain a tax credit score on that of as much as $2,000.
To this point, we’ve finished little issues ourselves, like door climate stripping and baseboard caulking. If you wish to do some work your self, you should purchase the weatherization supplies and save the receipts for an IRA tax credit score – it provides up, and there are all types of residence weatherization supplies on the market to get began.
How have you ever used tax credit and rebates to put in photo voltaic panels on your own home?
To get began with photo voltaic set up, I went to a kickoff occasion for an area photo voltaic installer in Might 2023 and had somebody come do a session, then the panels have been put in in July. Due to the 25D tax credit score within the Inflation Discount Act, we are going to obtain a 30% tax credit score from the IRA on the full price of the venture.
My utility, Georgia Energy, doesn’t supply internet metering to new rooftop photo voltaic homeowners. As an alternative, Georgia Energy credit us lower than half of the retail electrical energy price for electrical energy we export again to the grid – or, the surplus of energy our photo voltaic panels produce however that our home doesn’t eat at the moment.
Due to this fact, it’s economically advantageous for us to make use of the electrical energy our photo voltaic panels generate proper when the panels produce it, as an alternative of letting that electrical energy circulate again to the grid. Because of this, we make certain to plug in one in all our EVs each time one in all us is residence in the course of the day, utilizing the “sluggish” charger to elongate the time of the charging session to final the entire day. We additionally do laundry or different electricity-consuming actions in the course of the day when our panels are producing electrical energy, reasonably than at evening.
Sooner or later, we could take into account putting in a battery storage system to enrich our photo voltaic panels. There may be additionally a 30% federal tax credit score for residential battery storage methods supplied within the IRA. With a battery storage system, we may retailer the electrical energy our photo voltaic panels produce, after which use that electrical energy to energy our residence throughout energy outages and/or to energy our residence at evening, as an alternative of paying for electrical energy from the grid.
How are you concerned in your group to encourage others round you to take clear power motion?
A objective of mine is to create a bunch of like-minded residents to collaborate to advertise decarbonization locally at giant, amongst residents and companies. The group may hopefully present schooling on methods to decarbonize and lower your expenses, perhaps even providing in-home recommendation to householders and renters. This group wouldn’t be restricted to Dunwoody, however I felt that it could be greatest to start out by focusing on folks in my common space. That is what prompted me to get involved with individuals who have additionally signed up with the Clear Power Technology in my space.
Since final Might, I’ve been on the Dunwoody Sustainability Committee. There are a variety of things within the Metropolis’s Sustainability Plan, enacted in 2021, that relate to power effectivity and clear power that I will probably be working to get motion taken on.
The primary motion I’ve taken is calculating a greenhouse gasoline stock for my native authorities’s operations, like metropolis buildings and the police automobile fleet – I teamed up with a professor and his college students to work on this in 2023. The outcomes of this greenhouse gasoline stock present a place to begin to measure the results of actions the Metropolis takes to scale back greenhouse gasoline emissions. We simply acquired the result of the stock, and my first motion goes to be assembly one-on-one with members of the Metropolis Council and the mayor to implore them to demand motion from Metropolis administration.
Why do you assume it is very important implement clear power in our houses and communities?
For me, an important cause was first the environmental concern, particularly world warming, however saving cash and holding my household wholesome are large advantages for certain. I’m making an attempt to encourage others to do what they’ll to decarbonize, so it could be a bit hypocritical to not first do what I can myself with my very own private infrastructure. Plus, going via this personally will give me an opportunity to study concerning the processes so I can then move on tricks to others, hopefully.
GET INVOLVED IN THE CLEAN ENERGY GENERATION
As members of the Clear Power Technology, all of us have the facility to take motion and make a distinction the place we are able to in decreasing our environmental influence. Like Larry, we are able to discover power upgrades to make our houses extra power environment friendly and comfy, in addition to the strategies to assist make these modifications extra inexpensive – after which we are able to share what we study with our communities.
You don’t must be a clear power skilled to make an influence – simply able to study and excited to make a distinction.
Keep in mind to tune into our subsequent Clear Power Technology webinar on Friday, March 1 from 12:30 PM – 1:30 PM ET, the place Larry and SACE employees will speak concerning the methods every of us can play a job within the motion via making residence power enhancements, plus the funding that’s accessible to assist make them extra inexpensive. There will probably be loads of time for questions and solutions. We hope to see you there!
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