Best Utility Rebates For Homeowners In 2020

If you’ve been waiting to replace your old air conditioning or heating system, now is the time! Utility rebates are being offered to help you replace your old inefficient system with a new high efficiency system. Let’s take a deeper look into how this works:

Many homeowners choose high efficiency equipment because of the benefits that they receive. High efficiency equipment uses less fuel (electricity, gas, or propane) to run, so it will lower your utility bill every month throughout its lifetime. Not only is this great for your wallet, but it’s also great for the environment.

Other homeowners choose low efficiency equipment. No one wants to pay more on a utility bill, or waste electricity, gas, etc. so what motivates these purchases? The answer comes down to initial cost. You get what you pay for in HVAC, and the high efficiency systems that save you money in the long term, cost a lot more upfront when you buy them. This additional cost upfront is often a challenge for a homeowner to overcome.

In this article, we’re going to explore the world of high efficiency air conditioning systems. Specifically, we will be discussing high efficiency heat pumps. A heat pump is an air conditioner in the summer, it draws the heat out of your house (making your house cool), and gets rid of that heat outside. In the winter, this system runs in reverse. It draws heat from outside, and puts that heat inside your home. Many of these units can draw heat even when it’s -22° outside! For more information about how heat pumps work, please read our article titled “High Efficiency Heating & Cooling”. For the remainder of this article, when we mention an “AC”, know that we are talking about heat pumps.

When shopping for a new AC system , a common scenario is a homeowner gets a quote for a new, low efficiency AC system for $10,000, and then gets a quote for a new, high efficiency system for $15,000. Not everyone can afford the difference, so the cheaper system is bought.

What if that price difference was taken away? What if at the end of the day it was not only cheaper to run the high efficiency system, but also cheaper to purchase? This is where utility rebates come in. Most utility companies offer rebates for homeowners who buy high efficiency systems. Now in 2020, especially here in Westchester County and our surrounding counties, the rebates are incredible.

Let’s take a second look at our scenario where the low efficiency system is $10,000 to install and the high efficiency system is $15,000 to install. Here in Westchester , the high efficiency system could qualify for an $8,000 rebate! So now, the low efficiency system is still $10,000 but the high efficiency system comes out to $7,000 after rebates! Not only does this system cost less to run on a monthly basis, now it costs less to install! Why would anyone choose low efficiency now? Clearly the high efficiency system is the way to go, and that was the goal of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) when they set the rebate levels in conjunction with local utilities. NYSERDA here in New York State is the funding agency behind these rebates and they want all of New York to go the way of high efficiency.

There’s a lot of factors that have to be considered when working with rebates. We have to be careful as not all high efficiency equipment qualifies for a rebate. This is why it’s important you deal with a contractor that is trained and knowledgeable in rebates. We’ve heard of stories where the homeowner was promised a great rebate from the utility by the contractor, so the homeowner went with the high efficiency system, paid more upfront, but never received the rebate because the contractor did not do their homework and actually confirm what equipment qualifies and what does not.

Another scenario is where the low efficiency system might be $6,000 while the high efficiency system is $8,000. Here the better system qualifies for a $4,600 rebate, bringing the net cost way below that of the cheaper system. However, because of the multitude of factors that have to be taken into account (that’s the job of your contractor ) the high efficiency system won’t qualify unless you make an improvement to the insulation in your home. This could be a couple new windows, or possibly newer insulation in a north facing wall. This extra expense could add $3,000 to the job making the total cost of installing the high efficiency system and the new windows $11,000. We deduct the $4,600 utility rebate $11,000 - $4,600 = $6,400. Now the high efficiency system (which will use less electricity every month) and new windows costs only $400 more than the low efficiency system (and you still have the old drafty windows)

Here in Westchester we have a lot of homes that were built before central air conditioning was common in all construction. If you live in a home that has no central air conditioning, maybe you’re thinking that you can’t take advantage of these great new technologies and these tremendous rebates. Each year you have to put up window AC units, or maybe you have through-the-wall units putting holes in your siding. Don’t worry, we have a solution for you. They’re called mini-splits, or ductless air conditioners. This is the perfect solution for homes that don’t have ductwork already installed. With these units you can cool and heat your whole house, have different zones to help customize the temperatures in each room, and even choose which rooms to cool or heat based upon which are occupied. Just as with the systems described earlier in this article, not all qualify for rebates. Choosing the right contractor and the right manufacturer matters here too.

Choosing a new AC system is challenge for most homeowners. It’s usually a large, unexpected expense, and considering these systems last between 15 – 20 years, many homeowners don’t have a lot of experience in dealing with this. This is where we come in. We have the products that qualify for these rebates, and we train licensed, insured contractors on how to properly install them. We then pair homeowners with these contractors. At InterCounty Supply , we make this process as easy as possible so you can have peace of mind.

Utilize your local rebates, they’re there for you to use! Call us, or ask your contractor about them, ask them what kind of equipment they propose for your home. Remember, when you take advantage of your utility rebates to offset the cost of the high efficiency equipment, you’ll pay less upfront, pay less each month on your utility bill, and lessen the impact on the environment. That’s a triple win all around!