Obama proposes 'Cash for Caulkers' program

[OnePimpTiger]

How 'Cash for Caulkers' might work

President Obama's Cash for Caulkers proposal has almost every homeowner wondering how they'll be able to cash in.

The plan calls for greater incentives, perhaps amounting to thousands of dollars, for homeowners to get new energy-efficient appliances, windows and other such items.

But no one knows exactly how the federal program - part of a broader plan to stimulate the economy - might work. That's because it's still being written.

It may be modeled, at least in part, on New York State's home energy efficiency program, said Steve Nadel, director at the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, who's advising on the federal proposal.

So how exactly does New York's program work?

Homeowners interested in participating find a contractor licensed to do an energy audit by New York State - available on the state's web page or by calling a toll-free number.

Then someone like David Scharf, a contractor based just north of New York City, shows up.

For about $500, Scharf will figure out how much energy the home wastes. He'll put a giant fan in the door that will suck in air from outside the home, highlighting leaks in windows, doors or walls. He'll test each appliance to see how much energy it draws. He'll check the thickness of your insulation and windows.

Then, all this is fed into a computer model that generates a checklist with everything that could be replaced, how much it will cost, and how much in energy savings can be expected out of it. The homeowner decides how much work to do, and negotiates a price.

When the work is done, the homeowner pays Scharf directly. Scharf then submits paperwork to the state agency that runs the program. The homeowner then gets a reimbursement check from the agency for 10% of the project cost, up to $3,000, usually within 30 days.
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If Obama gets his way, homeowners could get much bigger rebates than that in the future. No one knows what the numbers will be yet, but Nadel said other legislation currently in Congress would give homeowners a 50% rebate, with a maximum reimbursement of $12,000.

[Star_Cards]

doesn't seem like a 10% reimbursement would make anyone do this that doesn't already want to.

[OnePimpTiger]

doesn't seem like a 10% reimbursement would make anyone do this that doesn't already want to.

fta:

if obama gets his way, homeowners could get much bigger rebates than that in the future. No one knows what the numbers will be yet, but nadel said other legislation currently in congress would give homeowners a 50% rebate, with a maximum reimbursement of $12,000.

[JeRmZ]

Problem with this in my eyes is your going to have to hire someone to do the work for you raising the overall cost of servies performed, instead of being able to do it yourself for less than half the cost.

There are people out there, such as myself who are savy enough to do things like this to their own house but won't get the reimbursement because a general contractor wasn't hired to do the work.

for example, this past April .. I re did my whole kitchen, cost me a little over $3,000 total to do the job myself ... If I had hired a contractor to come in and do the same exact work I would have had a bill close to $10,000.

WEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAK!!!!

[tutall]

do you realize how much cash they could put in every working persons pocket to be able to get the economy going again for the money they have spent... this little ticky tacky stuff is ridiculous... put the money in americans pocket, so they can spend it, thus creating jobs and more tax revenue

[theonedru]

While I am all for energy efficiency, how they are going about it is ridiculous