HVAC-Talk: Heating, Air & Refrigeration Discussion banner
Cancel
Create thread New Forums

Missouri program-Free Energy Audits-50%, 70% Rebates!

Jump to Latest
1 - 18 of 18 Posts
T

tipsrfine

· Professional Member*
Joined
·
3,975 Posts
Discussion starter · #1 ·
There is a new program starting soon here in Missouri, sponsored by the Dept. of Natural Resourses. Energize Missouri! It has 3 tiers. 1st tier is a free energy audit and 50% (up to $2000.00) of the cost of air sealing & insulation work, Tier 2 is a free energy audit and 70% (up to $7000.00) of upgrading to an 18 seer ac system, and tier 3 a free energy audit and $10,000 for going geo.
You will have to pay for the Energy Audit if you choose not to have the work recommended by the audit performed.
Of course the Energy Audit has to be performed by a Certified Energy Auditor, and work performed WITHOUT such an energy audit first being performed does not qualify.
 
#2 ·
It might be nice to know the amount of funding for this program. As generous as it is, may well be fully subscribed in a short time.

Best of luck -- Pstu
 
Save
Like Like
Discussion starter · #3 · (Edited)
#4 ·
thats a lot of cash back.
our program (since 2010) added $1000 rebate
from stimulis funding to $2000 incentive.
Of course since fed dollars has been added..tons
more redtape for energy rater.

Personally I hate that free energy audit thing.
I feel people don't appreciate free services.
as we are all independent raters we charge for the
service.
Since feds have entered into it they have a nice new
website, full page ads in newspapers, billboards etc.
no where on any of these do they associate a cost for
an energy rating.
Before feds stepped in..if I got 5 calls in one day..I got
4 jobs. Now I spend hours on the phone explaining that there
is a cost for the service. 5 calls...4 upset ho's and one job.
not doing us any favors.

the shame of it all is that in existing homes I regularly get
a 40 to 50% energy reduction if all upgrades suggested are followed.
so in La. adding to the incentive/rebate has caused a lot of new
time consuming issues.

of course La.'s program is different. as most of the rebate is
oil overcharge money put into an energy efficiency account.
the bulk of the rebate comes from this account. we are only spending
the interest on the money in the account.
La.DNR controlls the purse strings and limits energy rater's involvement
to ratings only. As a rater..we can't do any of the work on the house
because they see it as a conflict of interest.
this is a big difference, that doesn't apply to other states and raters.

I work with another rater in my area, he does the rating and with the
new company I started this year I do the work. He tests before, during
and after work is done.
this works out well for the homeowner.
and for me.
I'm getting tired of paperwork and see so many reports to ho that they
can't possibly understand.
so I get to explain what they need and see it through to the end.
and I learn better ways to make houses more air tight so that they
can achieve the efficiency that all those reports assume.

I still do ratings, but it is not as enjoyable to me as the fix up.

even with a 10 year old program in place..we have newly trained raters
(we were 15 raters for probably 7 years and now are 37 at last count)
these new raters have the education and certification, but in most cases
little to no experience in construction, hvac or insulation.
so in 3 years when stimulis money goes away (yet to be determined)
we will probably go back to the few of us who clean up messes made
by bandwagon raters.

Hopefully other states will not have the issues that we have here.
but as I said..La.'s program is different.

best of luck to you tipsrfine, Kevin, Classical
you are the types of raters that we need to do the
job of a house as a system.
I look forward to hearing of more of y'alls work.

like I always tell myself..one house at a time!
It is amazing the difference we can make.
 
Save
Like Like
#5 ·
Snap up that if you can. A geo system is currently 30% tax credit for the entire install, including ducted system, well, equipment, landscaping, electrical, whatever. Add another $10K to that and you'd really have to be nuts to go with fossil fuel or air-to-air.

But most of the stimulus rebates will expire or run out soon. The standard $1500 FTC expires December 31, 2010. However, the new Home Star program is poised to offer more money but under more restrictive terms. There will be Silver Star and Gold Star ratings for contractors. No Stars, no can do the work and qualify for the rebates. There are currently sticking points, like who fronts the money for the installation, the contractor or the homeowner. Currently the proposed law has the contractor billing the customer for the job, crediting back the money for the rebate and then waiting for a third party to pay the rebate. ACCA , RSES and other alphabet organizations are trying to get that changed as doing 15 or 20 jobs is a huge investment if the contractor has to fund the rebates, waiting on the third party. And there's no penalty if the third party pays late or never!! Very scary terms there.
 
Save
Like Like
Discussion starter · #6 ·
Personally I hate that free energy audit thing.(As a rater..we can't do any of the work on the house
because they see it as a conflict of interest.
La Rater)

The audit is only free if the homeowner gets the improvements done-I don't really care as long as I get paid from somebody.
I've always agreed about the conflict of interest thing. I know others on here do not feel that way.
What I do like about this limited time program is the mind-set of the people running it. No work to be done without first having an energy audit performed by a certified professional. To me that indicates that they know how badly things have been done before, and now want to ensure that things start being done right.
I am wondering about this 18 seer thing. I can't imagine most -or even that many- energy auditors here in Mo know anything about hvac, and especially about air-flow issues. It would be nice if they have things in place to ensure "delivered performance". I won't know until the additional training for energy auditors takes place. Apparently there will be classes to ensure all auditors know how to use the software assiciated with the audits. Man I really played this game down to the wire. I have to wait 'til the 28th to take my field test, and this program is supposed to be starting real soon. Hope I get under the fence in time.
 
Discussion starter · #7 ·
skippedover said:
Snap up that if you can. A geo system is currently 30% tax credit for the entire install, including ducted system, well, equipment, landscaping, electrical, whatever. Add another $10K to that and you'd really have to be nuts to go with fossil fuel or air-to-air.
But most of the stimulus rebates will expire or run out soon. The standard $1500 FTC expires December 31, 2010. However, the new Home Star program is poised to offer more money but under more restrictive terms. There will be Silver Star and Gold Star ratings for contractors. No Stars, no can do the work and qualify for the rebates. There are currently sticking points, like who fronts the money for the installation, the contractor or the homeowner. Currently the proposed law has the contractor billing the customer for the job, crediting back the money for the rebate and then waiting for a third party to pay the rebate. ACCA , RSES and other alphabet organizations are trying to get that changed as doing 15 or 20 jobs is a huge investment if the contractor has to fund the rebates, waiting on the third party. And there's no penalty if the third party pays late or never!! Very scary terms there.
Click to expand...
I'm not sure if the ten grand will be able to be added on to existing state & fed rebates. Not a lot of detaied info is out as the program is not open yet, but I'm on their list of contacts so I'll know when everyone else does.
 
#8 · (Edited)
Great Information "TIPS"...

tipsrfine said:
There is a new program starting soon here in Missouri, sponsored by the Dept. of Natural Resourses. Energize Missouri! It has 3 tiers. 1st tier is a free energy audit and 50% (up to $2000.00) of the cost of air sealing & insulation work, Tier 2 is a free energy audit and 70% (up to $7000.00) of upgrading to an 18 seer ac system, and tier 3 a free energy audit and $10,000 for going geo.
You will have to pay for the Energy Audit if you choose not to have the work recommended by the audit performed.
Of course the Energy Audit has to be performed by a Certified Energy Auditor, and work performed WITHOUT such an energy audit first being performed does not qualify.
Click to expand...
Great informative post.
I put a link to this thread on twitter for the HVAC contractors, I hope other states adopt a similar program.

Search immediately in twitter for HVAC - to see if it took, as Twitter was having problems.
I'll tweet a link to this thread more than once, others should do it too.

I don't like requiring an 18-SEER to qualify for the second $7,000 $ tier, IMO 16-SEER would be enough.

tipsrfine: It's part of the Stimulas funding.
http://www.dnr.mo.gov/transform/emh-geothermal-webinar.pdf
Click to expand...
I had to add the 'geothermal' that was left out, & replaced with ...
 
Discussion starter · #9 ·
udarrell said:
Great informative post.
I put a link to this thread on twitter for the HVAC contractors, I hope other states adopt a similar program.

Search immediately in twitter for HVAC - to see if it took, as Twitter was having problems.
I'll tweet a link to this thread more than once, others should do it too.

I don't like requiring an 18-SEER to qualify for the second $7,000 $ tier, IMO 16-SEER would be enough.
Click to expand...
For some reason, your link is not working for me. It looks just like the one I posted and mine still works. I'll try and copy mine again & post it here.

http://www.dnr.mo.gov/transform/emh-geothermal-webinar.pdf
 
Discussion starter · #10 ·
#13 ·
we did audits that were partially paid by dnr when program first started.
I almost forgot about that!
took them a while to pay, but was an ok deal.

I didn't mean to come off as negative with your dnr's program
sorry if I did. La. politics and goverment are not quite the same as
other states..and that is a good thing!!

it is great that the state is offering such generous incentives
but when you visit with your clients stress that it is an incentive
to help them to be more efficient.
ask that they tell their friends and family if they are pleased with
the work/info.
I only do ratings from referrals from pleased clients
..and have never had the need to advertise due to this.

you know how it goes one happy client tells 10 people
an unhappy client tells 50 people.

best of luck
 
Save
Like Like
#14 ·
tipsrfine said:
I'm starting to wonder if there are any Missouri homeowners that visit this site. Anyone?
Click to expand...
This is a new program and consumer education will be a big part of the program.
Program Aggregators and HVAC/GEO companies will be the primary source of that education. I attended the Green Homes Festival in STL on 9/25 and very few are aware of (HUG) yet.
I am a BPI Affiliate trainer of energy auditors and just now having HVAC companies contact me for training as BPI Certified Energy Auditors, all seem to have questions about the (HUG) program as they were not privy to the DNR webinars as I and other MO DNR Certified energy auditors were.

And yes, the $10,000 is in addition to the Federal 30% WOW indeed, how can anyone pass this up?
 
Discussion starter · #15 ·
Energy Trainer said:
This is a new program and consumer education will be a big part of the program.
Program Aggregators and HVAC/GEO companies will be the primary source of that education. I attended the Green Homes Festival in STL on 9/25 and very few are aware of (HUG) yet.
I am a BPI Affiliate trainer of energy auditors and just now having HVAC companies contact me for training as BPI Certified Energy Auditors, all seem to have questions about the (HUG) program as they were not privy to the DNR webinars as I and other MO DNR Certified energy auditors were.

And yes, the $10,000 is in addition to the Federal 30% WOW indeed, how can anyone pass this up?
Click to expand...
What does HUG stand for. I've been busy cramming for my field test for tomorrow. I know about Energize Missouri Homes & stuff, not HUG. Is the 7 grand for the 18 seer ac in addition to Federal? I think there is huge potential for GEO systems being installed out in Jefferson County for sure.
Thanks for the info.
 
#16 ·
Sorry for the acronym - Homeowner Upgrade and Geothermal Program (HUG)
Yes, any funding through HUG is in addition to Federal incentives.

GEO should be big everywhere!!

Dan Payne
BPI Building Analyst
BPI Envelope Professional
BPI Proctor
Missouri DNR Certified Energy Auditor
Adjunct- East Central College, Energy Auditing Program
Member,
Environmental Energy Consultants, LLC
BPI Affiliate Training Organization
www.environmentalenergyconsultants.com
enviroec@gmail.com
PH: (636) 399-3227
 
#17 ·
18 seer?

Checked with a Carrier supplier / contractor that I have a bid from and was told that Carrier does not offer a 4 ton / 18 Seer AC (or better) which is what is required to qualify for Tier 2 of this program.
Can anyone confirm this?
Any idea if Trane offers a 4 ton / 18 (or better) Seer AC??
thanks in advance
 
1 - 18 of 18 Posts
You have insufficient privileges to reply here.
About this Discussion
17 Replies
8 Participants
Last post:
Energy Trainer
HVAC-Talk: Heating, Air & Refrigeration Discussion
posts
5M
members
275K
Since
2000
The #1 HVACR Community
Full Forum Listing
Explore Our Forums
AOP Residential HVAC/Refrigeration(Beenthere Zone) General Discussion Tech to Tech Chat - Residential Controls Refrigeration & Ice Making