Austin Energy Residential Rebates

Eric Bramlett
December 19, 2007

This really isn’t new news, but it’s part of what makes Austin great. Austin Energy leads the nation in energy efficiency rebates. When you factor in the rebates, it really makes sense to go ahead and make your house extremely efficient. This isn’t a big deal if you live in a newer home, but if your house is even 10 years old or older, it’s really worth a look. I have a lot of personal experience with these programs, so I thought I would list them. Here’s a list of some of the rebates (in order of coolness.)

  1. Solar Rebates: Austin Energy offers the best solar rebates in the country. They rebate $4.50 per watt – to simplify, just think ~45% of the system. A system will cost roughly $6k-$10k, before rebates. The best time to install solar is when you need a new roof. If your roof faces predominantly north, or is heavily covered by trees, you won’t be eligible. Here’s my house – you can probably guess, I’m ineligible.
  2. Free Programmable Thermostats: If you become a “power partner” then Austin Energy will come install a free programmable thermostat. You have to agree to allow them to “cycle off” your air conditioner for up to ten minutes once per day during peak periods (during the summer.) I’ve been a “power partner” for 3 years – I have never noticed it. The programmable thermostat lowered my monthly bill by ~25%.
  3. Refrigerator Recycling: Old fridges suck juice, and they do NO good in the landfill. Austin Energy will pay $50 per unit to single family home customers & $35/unit to customers who live in multi’s. They haul off for free, as well.
  4. Solar Water Heater: This is a new one, so I don’t have any experience with it. Also, I know that my house will be automatically out from its positioning & design. Austin Energy will rebate $1500 to $2000 for the system, and then you’ll get a 30% tax credit for a total savings of $2250 to $3000.
  5. Home Performance Rebates: Austin Energy offers ~$1500 in rebates for “energy audit” items. A participating vendor comes out and gives a free audit, and advises you what to buy. I know how this sounds – the auditor will just try to sell you everything, right? I had them out, and they told me my ductwork (in a 1972 house) was incredibly efficient, and that I would do better with solar film (cheaper) than solar screens on my 10 picture window doors. Definitely worth the time.
  6. Air Conditioning Rebates: If your a/c is 10 years old or older, it’s not energy efficient. Austin Energy offers rebates to customers who purchase new, high efficiency a/c’s.

So, there are more programs available the Austin Energy website, but I wanted to highlight my favorites here. Shoot me a comment if you have any questions – I can probably answer them, but if not, I’ll point you in the right direction.

Category

12 Responses

Join the
Conversation
tax time
December 26, 2007

I’ve read before that people who have solar energy can sometimes generate more energy then they use and the system somehow pushes that energy back into the grid and then the get a credit. Do you know if that is how it works in Austin? Besides the energy rebates in would be great to not be so dependent on buying energy and also getting paid or earning credits for generating some excess energy.

San Diego Bob
December 27, 2007

Tax time,

That should be a Federal Law…

In San Diego County SDG&E has a net metering program, sort of like one of the popular cellular phone roll over programs. Unfortunately, the SDG&E program resets to ZERO every 12 months and will never actually pay for a net excess of KW fed back to the grid. In other words, SDG&E is stealing from their own customers.

Eric Bramlett
December 27, 2007

@Tax Time – yes, they do credit your for excess energy you put into the grid. In Austin, you can actually get a check from the electric company.

@Bob – I agree, it should be a federal law. I think we’re going to start seeing a lot of green energy sources in homes as it gets cheaper. I was ready to install solar on my house until they told me it wasn’t feasible.

Lydia Taylor
December 30, 2007

My husband and I had an older home a few years ago that was an energy hog. We put in all new weatherstripping in the doors, put in triple-pane gas filled windows, put in programmable thermostats, replaced the aging water heater with a high-efficiency one, started buying those special bulbs…You wouldn’t believe the drop in our electric bill. It was down over a third. Outside of the windows, the other improvements were cheap weekend projects that didn’t cost much money at all and we could do ourselves.

Alex
February 18, 2008

Tax time,

That should be a Federal Law…

Cherie Young
March 17, 2008

There are some incredible incentives, including lenders giving back a portion of their fees to assist with green loans.

I haven’t checked into SDG&E and their rebate program (I live in San Diego), but it’s all the more incentive to get off the grid anyway, even if you don’t get money back. During the recent fires, it would have been great for those folks who decided to stick around AND had electricity. The town that I live in, Ramona, is where the fires started, and I couldn’t help thinking that I wish I could have stayed if there was electricity for the pumps on wells, lighting, etc.

Mike M
April 10, 2008

Another good rebate from city of Austin is the washing machine rebate. I recently bought a new energy efficient washer and got the rebate making the cost of such a model more palatable.

Alison & Trish
May 6, 2009

The house we live in was an absolute dog when it came to efficiency. We were literally getting bills twice that of our neighbors – and our neighbors homes were not exactly the models of energy efficiency. Thank god for this austin energy program. We had a number of companies come out from the list on AE’s website – Strand brothers, http://www.greencollaroperations.com , McCullough and a few others. Strand brothers bid was extremely high so we just had Green Collar Operations come out because of the rebates that Austin Energy gives for their work. Basically, we received Attic Insulation, Comprehensive Air Infiltration and Duct Sealing and Repair from Green Collar. The Citys rebates for this were almost the entire price. We will most likelyhave Strand come out out once we have money for the new AC – but that is later down the line. Anyways I am very impresses with both Austin Energy and Green Collar Operations. Plus my bills are down quite a bit
.

Austin solar water heaters
July 16, 2009

In addition to the PV rebate, Austin energy also has a solar water heater rebate of 1500 for new homes or 2000 for existing homes.

greg
August 22, 2009

Thanks for the note. I just had Keith from Green Collar Operations come over. I am scheduled for their “Cool-Aid” package next week. I get my ducts sealed, my entire house sealed up and they blow insulation. Apparently they handle the rebate process with Austin Energy – which makes it very affordable. I will let you know how it turns out

william
May 11, 2010

Excellent info. Efficiency is an easy step towards reducing our energy consumption. To learn about insulation, rebates, or home star, follow the links.

Laura Morton
May 19, 2010

This is great news. My neighbor says that it is better to run the dishwasher and to do your laundry at night, after 10pm. Why would this be better? Something to do with off peak hours. Can anyone shed some light on this? Thanks.

Leave a comment

Name *

Email address *

Website

Your comment *