If you’re like most homeowners, saving money on utility bills is a top priority for you. Bringing an environmentally friendly, high efficiency water heater or boiler into your home can be a great start. Recently, Congress increased residential tax credits for energy efficient improvements.
There are important limitations on this tax credit. First, this is a single tax credit that can be used on a variety of “qualifying energy efficiency improvements” placed into service in 2011. You may claim a maximum of 10% (with a cap of $500*) on all of your “qualifying energy efficiency improvements.” That means, for example, if you purchase and install a qualifying unit and claim $100 of the tax credit for the unit, you have only $400 of the credit left to claim on your other qualifying expenditures. Second, you can claim a maximum of $300 on any one qualifying item of energy-efficiency building property - such as a water heater ($150 for qualifying furnaces and boilers). Third, if you claimed previous tax credits on energy efficiency improvements in any tax year from 2006 to 2010, you have to deduct the amount of those credits from the $500 cap. If the total amount of your previous claims is more than $500, you cannot claim any credit for improvements installed in 2011.
Emerson-Swan has a number of high efficiency water heaters and boilers that will qualify for federal tax credits. Call us at 800-346-9215 to find out more.
