The Energy Policy Act of 2005 provides homeowners with tax incentives if they purchase energy efficient products for their home improvement projects. The IRS’s incentive is a tax credit on the personal tax return. The maximum amount of credit is up to $500 for all the improvements made to an existing principle residence, in the United States, from January 1, 2006 through December 31, 2007.
This includes adding insulation, energy-efficient windows, skylights, exterior doors, metal roof, qualified central air conditioning or hot water boiler and solar energy systems, such as solar water heating. Reading the IRS guidelines on this issue will allow you to select the qualified products and claim your credit. On most items you can get 10% of the material cost back. Remember that the credit refers to the cost of the materials / products only – not to the cost of the installation. Do not forget to save your receipts and to ask for the manufacturer certification statement. Make sure the product is rated and labeled by Energy Star. For more information see: http://www.energystar.gov/ and http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=154657,00.html