Best Chance to Save $$ and Reduce Pollution!

Did you know Federal Energy Efficiency credits are still around until Dec. 31?

Is your standard water heater 5 yrs old or more or gas fueled?

Is your HVAC old, inefficient and unreliable?

Is your attic insulation up to code (R38 or 11 inches of insulation)?

With Winter coming and Federal incentives expiring soon, now is the best time to do 1 or 2 efficiency upgrades that can save you big money and reduce your carbon footprint at the same time.

Here are just a couple examples from actual work I did to my house this year:

Attic Insulation- my attic had R8 or about 2” of insulation, which was costing me hundreds of dollars in heating and cooling. I had insulation blown in, which took less than three hours, and cost $2,000. Within weeks, I got a $700 rebate from Duke. When I file taxes I will get a $400 tax credit. That means I will only have paid $900. At an estimated savings of $400/yr, I will pay off the investment in just over 2 years. In ten years, I will have already saved $3,100 and continue to save every year after that as well. That's around 30% return on my $900 investment annualized over 10 years. Try to do that in the stock market!

Heat Pump Water Heater- I realized, last month, that my standard water heater was 11 yrs old. Well into its “could fail at any time date”. Its energy use sticker estimated $586/yr to operate. Home Depot was having a Labor Day sale (they have sales all the time) and a few Heat Pump “Hybrid” water heaters were on sale. I bought one for $1,742 (including taxes) saving $270. Duke will rebate me $500 and my federal tax credit will be around $600. Leaving me $642 out of pocket. A standard water heater costs $600 with taxes. Since I needed to replace mine anyway, I would only paid $42 more to make a massive efficiency upgrade. The new water heater costs $105/yr to operate saving me $481/yr. That means I pay it off in 1 month and in ten years (the warrantied life) will have saved a whopping $4,769. Thats around 1,000% return on my $42 investment.

Even if your water heater is only 5 years old, with the incentives available through the end of the year, you can still pay off the additional costs of upgrading now (around $350) in a year or less and have huge savings going forward.

The savings can also be found on new HVAC systems, windows and doors, duct sealing and even energy panel upgrades. Check out the resources for residents and businesses at www.waynesville.gov/sustainability

or visit us at the Energy Efficiency Event, October 4th, 2025 from 9-Noon at the Shelton House grounds in front of Hart Theater. The EAC will be there as well as local Utilities (including Duke), the Town of Waynesville and service providers.