The cost of home repairs and updates can easily spiral into thousands of dollars. And when it comes to heating or cooling your home, those numbers can multiply even more astronomically. The good news for Dallas and Fort Worth area homeowners is that energy efficient homes are now made more affordable through incentives offered by Oncor energy delivery.
Most of the state of Texas is on its own electrical grid — no small feat, since the entire country only has three electrical grids in total throughout the continental United States. So the good news is that Texas is not reliant on power produced elsewhere to fuel its homes and businesses. On the flip side, however, is that Texans use a lot of power, which is why the Texas legislature passed what is now known as the “Energy Efficiency Rule,” which mandates that money be set aside by electric delivery corporations each year to fund incentives for homeowners to create more efficient homes.
Energy Efficiency for Low Income Families
If your household meets stringent low income guidelines, the incentives set aside by Oncor could fund a majority of your energy efficient upgrades, from adding insulation to sealing your home to upgrading your indoor and outdoor healing and cooling appliances. Incentives may also pay to cover making your water spigots in bathrooms and kitchens more efficient, as well as installing more efficient lighting throughout your home.
Energy Updates Regardless of Income
If your household doesn’t meet low income guidelines, you can take advantage of a separate pool of Oncor incentives to majorly subsidize the costs of improving your home’s energy efficiency. The general home efficiency incentives plan includes the following as eligible upgrades that you can pursue for greatly reduced costs:
- Increasing your attic insulation to recommended standards
- Sealing your windows and doors to prevent costly drafts
- Ensuring your ductwork is both sealed and working appropriately without energy loss
- Upgrading heating and cooling equipment
- Installing Energy Star appliances and fixtures.
Solar Power for Energy Efficient Homes
A final pool of Oncor incentives can heavily subsidize the cost of installing solar panels at your residence to provide an alternate form of power for your home. Not only can solar panels greatly reduce your home’s reliance on the Texas electrical grid, but if enough energy is produced, you may, in fact, sell the overage back to the electrical company to use for other homes. So not only can you install panels at a great savings, you might also reduce or lose your electrical bill entirely or even make a few dollars along the way.
Join In
Oncor incentives are released each spring and are available until the funds designated for that calendar years are exhausted. Depending on how many homeowners jump on these incentives to upgrade to energy efficient homes each year, funds may remain available either for only a month or sometimes throughout the entire spring and summer.
Begin watching for program announcements on www.takealoadofftexas.com each year in the early spring and then use that site to locate approved providers in your zip code. The provider you choose will conduct an energy audit of your home and prepare a proposal to show what upgrades may be covered entirely, what may be subsidized to reduce cost, and what additional updates you may consider but that are outside of the program’s scope. You must use an approved provider, as only they can receive incentives on your behalf. Incentives are paid directly to service providers, meaning that you only have to worry about the additional costs you may agree to for further upgrades.
Ready? Set. Get efficient!
Image Source: Flickr/Michael Coghlan
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