Daily Home Renovation Tips

We have written about our own experiences where we lost out on government energy conservation grants because the vendors from whom we purchased our early energy conservation related products / services did not tell us.

What can you do to reduce the risk of this not happening to you?

First, go to your local governments’ web sites to research before you invest your prescious time and hard earned money in your home renovations. Also, talk to a local realtor who is supposed to be current on such information.

Another approach is to search for web sites which provide this information for various areas that is kept current. Yes, we have found such a site for the USA. And, it’s in our blog roll.

DISRE is the Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency. It was first established way back in 1995 to be a continuing effort of the North Carolina Solar Center of the North Carolina State University and the Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC), funded by the United Sates Department of Energy.

It is truly a treasure chest of information on state, local, utility and federal incentives which promote both renewable energy and energy efficiency, with separate and combined databases for each.

A very helpful aspect to the DISRE site is the wide variety of searches that are available. There is a map of the United States whereupon you can simply select your State and drill down accordingly. Or, there is a search feature where you can search by Eligible Sector, Implementing Sector, Incentive Type, State and Technology.

Did you know, for example that when I selected a search within the DSIRE site by Technology and selected Solar Space Heat I was presented with at least one (most more than 1) different government incentive for Solar Space Heat in what I believe was all 50 States? (too bad Canada, a colder climate, does not demonstrate the same enthusiasm for this technology in its ecoENERGY Retrofit program as Solar Space Heat devices are not available for single family homes).

And the cool thing is that the web site is updated weekly so it is always kept as current as possible. For example, the Orlando Utility Commission recently launched two pilot solar programs; (A)  a Solar Photovoltaic (PV) program to generate electricity, and (B) a Solar Thermal program to generate heat for domestic water heating systems. And, another incentive added to the DSIRE site in February and March 2008 is the Palo Alto Utilities’s Solar Renewable Energy Credit Purchase Program.

Remember, you need to take responsibility onto your own shoulders. The DSIRE web site and other sources of information are around if you look for them before you start your home renovation. Hopefully by reading this article you at least motivated to start looking?