NH Solar Hot Water and High Efficiency Boiler Incentives

[peakbagger]

I was at a presentation yesterday on upcoming solar and boiler incentives for NH residents, looks like there will be very attractive rebates on hot water solar systems in a few months, might be worth holding off if you are getting ready to pull the trigger. Looks like a $2000 combined rebate with the 30% federal Tax credit on top of it. The boiler incentive is probably going to be $1000 for higher than standard efficiency boilers no matter what fuel they burn. Neither program has the rules written, so caveat emptor!. I dont think this will apply to "space heaters" so not sure if woodstoves or pelletstoves would qualify if they apply prior definitions in the statutes.

The state decided to spend the money that mosts states are using for Energy Star appliance rebates and decided to direct it to SHW and heating units.

 

[btuser]

THAT'S AWESOME NEWS I'm going to start picking out the boiler of my dreams!

I looked hard at condesing oil boilers/furnaces, but they just ain't worth it. I guess the water content of oil combustion by-products is 1/2 that of NG/Propane, so you only grab 1/2 as much back. Also because of the sulfur in heating oil it beat the heck out of the heat exchangers. ULSD is on the way, which will help a bunch but unless you can get your return temps down below 130F (the temp where fin-tube baseboards stop convection) you won't see much condensing anyway.

Reason for looking at condesing boilers, of course, was the $1500 tax credit.

 

[btuser]

Here's a link pulled from the State's site:
http://www.nh.gov/oep/recovery/news/documents/101509.pdf

 

[Leonard]

I wish Maine would come up with some dough for such programs. Instead were cutting like crazy with $ 400 million short of the budget :-(

 

[webbie]

No, not NH?

NH, et tu?

I thought "live free or die" meant no government programs....sorry, could not resist!

 

[peakbagger]

The rebates are a combination of federal Stimulus dollars that have to be spent on energy efficiency and "reggi" money which is the results of the "carbon tax" that the Northeast states voluntarilly elected to place on utilities, that also has to be spent on energy efficiency.

NH will gladly spend money that comes in from out of state, just look at how much cheap liquor, cigarettes and sales of tax free merchandise we sell to the folks from ME, VT, and Mass to reduce our taxes !

 

[btuser]

Its left-over money from appliance rebates. When I bought my house (for the 3rd time) the first thing I did was get rid of the top load washer and junk the side by side fridge. I save about $30/month just on these two items, and the new ones work better.

 

[btuser]

Anybody get an update on this yet?

 

[peakbagger]

It has been awhile but I got this update yesterday. I do want to qualify this as have you ducks in a row and ready to go but dont do anything until the program is officially started. I installed a solar system with a similiar incentive and by the time the regulators wrote up the rules, I lost some of the potential rebate due to rele changes. It has also been 16 weeks since I applied for the rebate and it was supposed to take them 4 to 6 weeks to process.

I am also wary as the release says that utility comanies would administer the fossil fuel heating systems, so I suspect that the gas companies and electrci company is going to skew the program to their product.

Nonetheless here is what I received.


"New Hampshire State Energy Efficiency Appliance Rebate Program Update
The State Energy Efficient Appliance Rebate Program (SEEARP) was created
under the Energy Policy Act of 2005. The purpose of the program is to offer
residential consumers rebates to purchase more energy efficient appliances.
New Hampshire has been allocated approximately $1.2 million to implement
the program. Below is a listing of eligible equipment. OEP anticipates the
rebate process to commence in April 2010.
Important program notes:
This program is not retroactive so any purchases made prior to this
program being finalized will not qualify.
Household appliances such as refrigerators, dishwashers, air
conditioners, and clothes washers are not included under the New Hampshire
SEEARP program.

Eligible Equipment

SEEARP is focused on offering residential consumers rebates on the
replacement of hot water heaters, boilers and furnaces to more energy
efficient models. There are two components to the program, one focused on
solar thermal systems and the other on fossil fuel based heating systems.
Rebates will be available on a first come first serve basis and will not be
available on prior purchases.

Solar Thermal Systems

OEP intends to contract with the Public Utilities Commission's
Sustainable Energy Division to administer a residential rebate program for
solar thermal systems. The SEEARP program plans to offer an additional $750
rebate on top of existing federal incentives and planned state rebates. We
anticipate that when all of these incentives are leveraged with each other,
consumers can anticipate receiving a total rebate that will cover upwards
of 40%-50% of the cost of the system.

Fossil Fuel Based Heating Systems

OEP intends to contract with the electric utility companies to administer
a residential rebate program on EnergySTAR certified hot water heaters,
boilers and furnaces. The program plans to extend the rebates available
under the Home Performance with EnergySTAR to all New Hampshire residents,
including municipal utility ratepayers. Rebates will vary between $100 -
$1,000 depending upon the energy efficiency rating of the heating system.

For more information please [http://www.nh.gov/oep/recovery/seearp.htm]
CLICK HERE for the State Energy Efficient Appliance Rebate Program Web Page
or contact Eric Steltzer at OEP, (603) 271-1759.

 

[btuser]

I purchased a new boiler in Feb (deal, couldn't pass it up) . 88% eff oil boiler w/ outdoor setback control. Is there any way I could get a rebate on it, or is it wishfull thinking?
Also, I'm thinking about adding solar DHW to my system. I understand the rebates are going to start in April for systems bought after April. What are the chances I buy a system and don't get the rebate because all the money has been allocated before I get my paperwork on the right desk?

 

[peakbagger]

I beleive you are out of luck on getting a rebate for the boiler even if the boiler did qualify. You have a better likelyhood of gettin a solar rebate but make darn sure that the prgram is in effect before buying one. NH had passed a similiar law for solar electric and after the fact passed a pile of rules that made it a lot harder to get. I got screwed out of part of my rebate due to rule changes. I also had to get an executive councilor to involved to get the check issued as the PUC just wouldnt live up to their commitments on time to proces the applications. They have since gone to a system where you have to apply to get the rebate before you install the system and require up front confirmation that the site selected is appropriate which requires testing with some specialized equipment. I would not be surprised if you run into a similiar requirement. The other issue is that PSNH is making a grab for the cash in at least one of the funds used for the rebates. The fund ended up with a lot less cash than expected anf policticians are trying to use is as a piggybank for other programs.

My advice is to keep up with the rule making process and apply as soon as you can when the rules are finalized. At a minimum you get the 30% federal rebate. I wouldnt neccasarilly trust that a dealer will be up to speed as they may just try to sell a system to generate cash now and hope that eventually the consumer gets the rebate.

 

[btuser]

Everyday I'm checking back on their website (https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/45550/) and the only thing I'm leery about is "sometime in April" . So if I run right out April 1st and the program starts April 2nd I'm out of luck. WTF.