Cash for Caulkers: “HomeStar” Program Offers $6 Billion in Rebates
By Vernon T., May 14, 2010, Energy Efficiency, News, Save Money
On Thursday, May 6, the US. House of representatives passed HR5019, The Home Star Energy Retrofit Act, also known as “Cash for Caulkers” is a $6 billion program designed to spur home energy retrofits by providing rebates to Texas homeowners who install energy-saving products, such as insulation, windows, doors, and heating systems.
Passed by a lightly mixed margin of 246 ayes to 161 nays, the bill was introduced by President Obama in March, 2010 and sponsored in the House by congressman Peter Welch (D-VT).
Nearly 25% of American housing construction workers are out of work. Primarily designed to help put them back to work, the Home Star program has two major tracks providing long and short-term Texas electricity savings.
The Silver Star Program would provide rebates, in varying amounts up to $3,000 per home, awarded to participating contractors and vendors who perform qualifying energy saving improvements. There is a list of specific products eligible for the program: new ductwork, window replacements or new heating/cooling systems.
The bill specifies that the contractor would have to pass their rebate’s full value on to the homeowner.
The Gold Star Program would provide rebates up to $8,000 to contractors and vendors for retrofits that achieve home energy savings determined by a comparison of the simulated energy consumption of the home before and after the retrofit. Rather than being issued based on specific projects or purchases, Gold Star rebates would be calculated based on the net overall energy-use reduction in a home. The bill requires that net energy consumption be documented through the use of simulation software.
Do-it-yourself rebates will be directly available to homeowners for buying and installing insulation, sealing products, weather-stripping and caulk. Vendors will have to provide a rebate application. These rebates would total 50 percent of the cost of the eligible products, up to a maximum of $250 per home.
Home Star is expected to allow 3 million families to retrofit their homes to be more energy efficient. Consumers are predicted to save $9.2 billion on their energy bills over the next 10 years as a result of Home Star’s energy efficiency investments.
Senate passage is expected and the package could become law over Memorial Day Weekend .
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Comments (2)
Great information! It is good to know that there are more rebates coming available.
[...] Guide To The Home Star Energy Retrofit Act of 2010 and more information can be found on the Bounce Energy blog article about the Cash for Caulkers program. Homeowners can expect to recoup their investment by upgrading their energy efficiency. For [...]