General

These tax credits can help you make winter home improvements

Winter’s upcoming arrival is welcome news for those who love the holiday season, snow days or sitting in front of the fire.

Of course, the cold can also impact people’s pocketbooks in the form of higher heating bills.

But tax credits and rebates can help ease that burden, including incentives available under the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA). The IRA offers a wide range of tax credits for home improvements and upgrades. Among the improvements covered: heat pumps, windows and exterior doors, and insulation.

“It’s easy to forget winter weather is on the horizon with our recent warmer-than-usual weather,” said Bridgett Petzoldt, OPPD product manager. “With the tax credits from the IRA, there is something for everyone.

“It’s a great time to look at what is available and plan some improvements. Not just for this year, but also the years to come.”

The IRA is touted as one of the largest investments in clean energy in the nation’s history. Various tax credits through the IRA are available through 2032.

OPPD’s IRA tax credits page can help customers determine which improvements and incentives would work best for them.

Some popular options include:

Heat pumps

Upgrading your home’s heating and cooling systems can make a sizeable impact on your bill. Today’s heating and cooling technologies are two to three times as efficient as older models.

The incentive available for installing a new electric or natural gas heat pump is a maximum of $2,000, with 30% of the materials and labor costs being eligible. As with many of the IRA incentives, certain efficiency requirements must be met to be eligible for IRA tax credits.

Efficiency upgrades

A home energy audit is a way to evaluate how energy efficient your home is. A certified energy rater can help determine which efficiency measures could benefit your home and whether those measures would be cost effective. A maximum $600 tax credit available for such audits. Eligible audits must include a home inspection and a written report by a certified auditor.

Older homes especially are susceptible to leaks and drafts, which can negatively impact your utility bill. The IRA also offers tax incentives to help with weatherproofing your home.

Some fixes that can help with weatherproofing include replacing windows, doors and skylights. Such replacements are all eligible for tax incentives.

Generation

Financial incentives are also available for those using customer-owned generation. In the case of customer-owned solar systems, IRA incentives will cover up to 30% of the cost of materials and labor. And OPPD offers a $2,000 rebate for customers who install a qualifying solar system using an OPPD trade ally.

The number of customers seeking to generate their own power continues to grow OPPD issued its 2,000^th customer-owned generation interconnection application in August.

Long-term payoffs on home improvements

The payoffs on many of these incentives are long-term, but lowering your energy costs and improving the comfort is always good, Petzoldt said.

“Be smart and plan your energy efficiency improvement according to your budget,” Petzoldt said. “These credits are available for years to come – so spread them out to get the best bang for your buck.”

For more information on incentives available for winter home improvements and other energy-efficient upgrades, check out OPPD’s IRA tax credits page.