What Is The Federal Energy Tax Credit On Solar Attic Fans?

 

On the latest episode of the Check a Pro Radio Show, our host Joe was joined by the "attic fanatic" himself, Tom from Austin Solar Attic Fans, to explore money-saving tips for household energy use. A main focus of their discussion was the underestimated potential of solar attic fans in saving homeowners a considerable amount on their energy bills.

According to Tom, the installation of solar attic fans not only leads to substantial energy savings, but also contributes to reducing repair costs for air conditioning systems and prolonging the lifespan of roof shingles. The high upfront cost of a solar attic fan becomes negligible with a payback period of about two years.

What's more, the federal government encourages the adoption of such energy-efficient practices by offering a 30% federal energy tax credit on the cost of installing solar attic fans. Unlike a deduction, this is a real tax credit that greatly shortens the payback period.

For larger residences requiring multiple fans, Tom reassures that there is no limit to the number of fans you can claim for in your tax credit. Despite the number of fans needed, a professional evaluation from Tom's team ensures that the recommended solution is tailored to the unique needs of your home, taking into account factors such as the size and height of the attic, color of the shingles, and the number of soffit vents.

In conclusion, solar attic fans are a financially and environmentally conscious investment for any homeowner looking to enhance their home's energy efficiency and comfort, while simultaneously reducing utility bills and benefiting from federal tax credits.

 

For assistance with your Air Conditioning system please call Austin Solar Attic Fans - [phone].

Log on to - www.austinsolaratticfans.com

 

Check Out Our Check A Pro Profile - www.Checkapro.com

Episode Transcript

(00:01):
Check A Pro Joe here on the Check
A Pro Radio show I love you
to be safe comfortable and to save money on
utility bills basically anything in your
home I've asked Tom the attic fanatic to join me from Austin Solar Attic Fans
to talk about ways you can save a whole lot of money on your energy energy bills

(00:25):
and on an appliance that will save you money on your energy bills.
That's a solar attic fan. Tom, how are you?
I'm doing great. How about yourself? I am living the dream. Thank you so much
for joining me today here on the program.
We talk about solar attic fans all the time and there is a cost to install it,
but over time that solar attic fan is going to save you a whole bunch of money

(00:48):
on energy, but there's something else that a lot of people don't realize.
And that's uncle Sam helping out. Tell me about it.
Yes. So the solar energy fans qualify for the federal energy tax credit.
So that's 30% of the cost of the fan.
So when we kind of look at the numbers on a fan, it's generally about a two-year payback.

(01:09):
So you'll save about a third of your cost for each year that it's installed.
So after two years, it's pretty much
paid for. And then when we take into consideration of the 30% tax credit.
So if there was no tax credit, it'd be probably about a three-year payback.
But since we do have the 30% federal energy tax credit, basically after the
first year, it's two-thirds of the way paid for because you've got your energy

(01:30):
savings and you get your tax credit of that 30%. So these are really economical.
I mean, anybody can afford these as a home and wants to save money on their energy bills.
But you're also going to save money on your air conditioning repairs are going
to be less because you're just taking that air conditioner out of such a hot environment.
And you're just not asking that air conditioner to do as much,

(01:50):
and your shingles actually end up lasting longer because we just don't have
so much heat on that roof decking.
So we figure out the cost of what a roof is or what an air conditioning system costs.
If you can get a little bit more life out of each of those, it makes a huge difference.
The fan becomes like, well, this is the biggest no-brainer I've ever done in
my house. This makes a lot of sense.
And then we talk about the comfort. So that's why a lot of people will call us.

(02:11):
But 30% federal energy tax credit, it.
Of the cost of the product installed when you have it done. And that's on your federal tax returns.
So when you do it, so if you do it this year, then at the end of the year,
when you do your taxes, you'll get that 30% back.
So whatever you owed, so say you had a $300 or $400, say you had a $400 tax credit on this.

(02:35):
Okay, at the end of the year, you owed $400 in taxes, you wouldn't owe anything.
It's like real money, it's not a deduction. A lot of people get confused and
they think, oh, it's just a deduction.
No, it's a real, it's credit. It's like you already paid $400 in taxes,
And you're going to get that back on your income tax. So it goes on your federal
income tax, 30%. There's no upper limit.
So if you had a huge house, say you had 10,000 square feet, and you needed to

(02:58):
put four or five fans in, you could get a tax credit on all of those fans.
So there's no upper limit on that.
Now, generally, most houses are going to need just one or two fans.
That's kind of our normal.
But when we come out and do an evaluation, we'll take a look at that.
I can't really answer that question without seeing the customer's home.
So our company will come out. We'll look at it. we'll do an evaluation real
quick, 10 or 15 minutes with you, take a good look at everything and see what we can do for you.

(03:22):
And if we feel like the fan would benefit you, then we'll move forward.
If we run it through like an energy calculator and we're like,
to be honest, ma'am or sir, this is going to be a four or five year payback.
So it's up to you if you want to move forward. Generally, we're thinking it's
about a two year payback, which is just really a no brainer.
Like, well, let's go ahead.
But we'll let you know. We can kind of show you about how long it will take
for it to pay for itself back in energy savings, not even considering that the

(03:46):
the air conditioner lasts longer, that roof lasts longer, or comfort.
We're just talking about pure energy savings.
We'll look at that and make sure it makes sense before we even give you that
recommendation to move forward.
So we want to make sure what we're recommending is actually what the customer
needs. I feel like I'm like a doctor when we go out.
I'm not going to sell you something that's not going to work for you.
Just like a doctor is not going to recommend a surgery or give you some medication

(04:07):
that they don't feel like it's going to work.
If they're recommending it, they feel like it's going to work.
Now, it may or may not work with a doctor because because everybody's a little different.
Attics are a little bit more of a mathematical formula or a science.
So we can look at the size of the attic, the height of the attic,
color of the shingles, how many soft events you have, and we can give you a
real hard number, how many CFM you need.

(04:27):
And then we can recommend if you need one fan or two fans, we can dial it in for you.
It's not a guessing game. So we can actually show you that math and really make
sure it really works out for the customer.
Tom, as always, thank you so much for your expertise. Much appreciated.
Thank you. Appreciate it.