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Home Energy Savings Guide
This Home Energy Savings Guide is a starting point to get you on the way toward better energy management for your home.

Commercial Energy Savings Guide
Touchstone Energy's Commercial Energy Savings Guide can go a long way in educating business customers on ways to reduce energy costs in an easy-to-read brochure.

Heating assistance available
If you or someone you know will have difficulty paying home heating bills this winter, a federal program could help.

The Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) provides home energy assistance to eligible low-income households.

Applications are accepted from Oct. 1-May 31 of each heating season.
Assistance is available for:
• Heating assistance—LIHEAP can pay for a portion of fuel used to heat your home. The amount of benefits depends on your income, the type and size of your home and the type of fuel used to heat your home.
• Making your home energy efficient—The weatherization program helps low-income families make their homes and apartments energy efficient.
• Furnace and chimney cleaning—The program can pay up to $100 to clean and inspect your furnace and/or chimney.
• Emergency assistance—LIHEAP funds are available when there is a home energy emergency that may threaten the life of your family.
• Furnace replacements—Payment for the cost of a furnace is made possible for an eligible household.
• Minor repairs—Minor repairs can be provided if the weatherization services cannot be provided.
• Energy cost reduction devices—Funds are sometimes available to help with installation costs of energy-reducing devices.

For LIHEAP services, call your local county social services office or contact:
Economic Assistance Policy Division
Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program
600 E. Blvd. Dept. 325
Bismarck, ND 58505-0250
Phone: (701) 328-2065
Toll-free: (800) 755-2716

Energy Conservation
Tax credits encourage energy efficiency projects

If winter’s heating bills leave you shivering, help may be here.

Through a new federal program, homeowners may be able to put a few extra dollars in the piggy bank. The Energy Policy Act provides federal tax credits to consumers who make certain, specified energy-efficent upgrades to their homes.

Homeowners can obtain a maximum of $500 in tax credits by applying certain energy efficient improvements to their home in 2006 and 2007. Homeowners are encouraged to consult a tax advisor for claiming the credits.

Eligible improvements include installing specific insulation, windows, doors, roofs and heating and cooling equipment.

But experts advise homeowners to look closely at both the tax credit program and their own home.

“Adding insulation to your attic is worthwhile because that’s going to result in a payback in energy savings and you can then claim the tax credit on top of that,” says Howard Sage, weatherization program administrator with the N.D. Department of Commerce Division of Community Services. “Windows and doors are some of the measures that have the lowest impact on energy savings ... They do not pay back as much or as fast as insulating your attic and walls and foundations and those types of measures.”

Replace windows and doors only if they have deteriorated or if you still have single-pane windows, he advises.

“Adding insulation to the building shell is going to give you the biggest bang for your buck,” Sage says.

Standards to obtain tax credits for heating and cooling equipment are high, so homeowners are advised to look at the details closely before purchasing equipment simply to obtain the tax credits.

A central air conditioner, for example, will need a seasonal energy efficiency rating (SEER) of 15 to qualify for tax credits. “You will pay extra money to get a 15 and it may even exceed the amount of the tax credit available to you,” Sage says.

With improvements to the building envelope, such as insulation, windows and doors, homeowners can claim 10 percent of the material costs. Ten percent of the material and installation costs can be claimed with heating and cooling equipment. However, there are caps on each type of improvement.

The maximum tax credit a homeowner can claim is $500 during the two-year period of the program, which began Jan. 1, 2006, and ends Dec. 31, 2007. Products must be “placed in service” during that time. To get the credit, you will need to file the appropriate Internal Revenue Service forms with your taxes.

“They should be doing everything possible to conserve energy anyway,” Sage says. “It’s always a good investment for when you’re reselling your home to be able to show that your home is energy efficient. If you’re not selling your home, it’s money in your pocket.”

To learn more:
For details, contact the N.D. Department of Commerce Division of Community Services at (701) 328-5300 or visit the Alliance to Save Energy web site.