ak rebate for weatherization (Hope: short sale, condos, mortgage)

[rppearso]

Has anyone else had any experience with this rebate program.

FAQ Questions - AKRebate

I would really like new energy efficient vinyl windows but I have better things to spend my money on if at the end of the day my rebate check is not at least 90% of the money I invested in the process. I also sent them an email about the dodgy language of "may vary" and " up to" it almost seems like a scam to entice alaskans to reduce energy consumption and then dodge out on the initial infrastructure bill at the end by making it a rebate program instead of making it free upfront. You dont need a energy guy high school drop out to walk around your house with a fireworks punk to know the difference in k value from old windows and new windows that can be determined in a lab when the windows are made.

Has anyone else gone through this process and come out on the other side with new windows and a nice fatty rebate check for at least 90% of their costs. I would like to take advantage of the weatherization program but thats only for dirt poor people ..... wait how many dirt poor people do you know that can afford to be home owners lol. Its like this whole thing is a 3 ring circus.

[AADAD]

good post. thanks for the information.

[Bluecielos]

I'm in the middle of doing the home energy rebate program, NOT the weatherization program. The weatherization program is the one with income restrictions and I didn't qualify for it.

So far I have had my home initially inspected where they guys came out and did the blower test and told me what improvements I needed to make to make the biggest impact on my energy bills. But for my house, the windows are the least of my problems.

I have submitted my bill for the initial inspection and got my refund for $325 for the initial inspection, and my bill was $350. So if you want to have the initial inspection to see what improvements you can make and then make the decision if it's worth it to do the rest, then I say go for it.

I have a few more things to complete before I get them back out here to retest to see how much I've improved so I can get my refund check. Hopefully it all goes smoothly and I get back most of the money I've spent so far.

A woman at my work had her house done already and she said she got her refund check within a month of submitting all the paperwork. Hopefully it works that well for me.

[rppearso]

How much did she spend and how much did she get and what numbers does the energy guy have to get to get all your money back for all your upgrades (windows, garage doors, etc)

[Moose Whisperer]

Unfortunately, like so many other government programs, it sounds like a great idea until you read the fine print. I'm actually replacing my windows myself, but after talking to a few people who did it, I didn't even bother signing up for an initial inspection.

I'm not an expert on this program, but from what I understand, even though you are eligible for a miximum of a $10,000 rebate, real world no one sees this amount. Let's say your home gets an initial rating of 3 stars, then you spend $15k on new windows and get a new rating of 4 (since it's doubtful windows alone will fix all the problems). Now the rebate on your $15k expenditure is $4k, or roughly 25%. Granted, $4k is nothing to sneeze at, but the rub comes with the initial rating. If you've already got a pretty efficient home to start with (like me), it's really hard (and expensive) to bump it up that last star, and the small increase results in a low payout per dollar invested. I guess it works better if your place is a dump to start with, say with single pane windows, then even a minor change has a big effect.

Almost sounds like a scam to me - at least in they way it is rather deceptively advertised.

[rppearso]

Thats exactly what I was worried about, but my condo is older but definitly not a dump, the windows are the only things I could replace short of ripping out sheet rock and replacing insulation. It may be worth it to see how many stars I am at right now but the other rub is what if I spend 2-3k on windows and I keep the same star level. I was worried it was a scam and it turns out I was right I was hoping some people would prove me wrong but at least I have an answer. With alot of condos on the boarder line of not being FHA approved I dont want to have any sunk costs in my place unless something actually breaks and im forced to fix it because my friend is in a situation where the associatoin is upside down (for lack of a better term) and they lost there FHA loan status so he basicly cant sell his condo now and they are raising his dues without his approval to make up for the difference, now lets say its a retired person on a fixed income that owns his place and cant afford the rate hikes because of the associations mismanagement of funds and also cant sell, could he sue them?

[Bluecielos]

Hello,

The woman at my work spent about $8000 and only got back $7000, but she was thrilled because she got the new furnace she was hoping for which will save her a lot of money in the long run.

My home is older (built in 1979) and I was rated at 2+ stars. The energy rater thinks I can go up 4 steps no problem for a refund of $8500. So far we've spent about that much and have a few more things left to do and will probably spend another $700, which isn't too bad to me.
Like I said my windows weren't a big problem. My furnace and attic were where a lot of my heat was escaping and energy was being wasted/lost.

So I would say if all you want is new windows then this program isn't for you. This is a program to improve the overall energy efficiency of your home to save money on your energy bills, not just to get new windows that might not really need to be replaced. And if you are thinking of selling/moving then replacing your windows will probably not be cost effective.

[rppearso]

Hmm 7/8ths of your money back is not to bad, the fact that its a crap shoot makes it a tough desicion though.

[dmills]

Originally Posted by rppearso

Has anyone else had any experience with this rebate program.

FAQ Questions - AKRebate

I would really like new energy efficient vinyl windows but I have better things to spend my money on if at the end of the day my rebate check is not at least 90% of the money I invested in the process..

So, let me see if I got this straight. You want new windows, but only if I (another tax payer) foot the bill. Wow! I'm certainly not criticizing a program that helps offset the cost of certain energy saving improvements, but the idea that its not really worthwhile to you unless someone else pays just doesn't sit too well with me.

[rppearso]

Originally Posted by dmills

So, let me see if I got this straight. You want new windows, but only if I (another tax payer) foot the bill. Wow! I'm certainly not criticizing a program that helps offset the cost of certain energy saving improvements, but the idea that its not really worthwhile to you unless someone else pays just doesn't sit too well with me.

I can break it down for you, I have over 10k in student loan debt, plus there are at least one condo association that I know of that lost there FHA status and they just raised dues over 100$ a month over night to make up for "discrepencys". Because he is upside down and lost FHA status so he would have trouble even doing a short sale so if anything happens where he can not stay his only option will be a stratigic forclosure, when you do a stratigic forclosure you want to have as few sunk costs as possible, windows out of your own pocket would be a sunk cost if you cant sell your place for at least what you owe plus the cost of the improvements, so it would be nice to have new windows but I cant afford to put any more sunk costs into my place and I will deal with the energy inefficiencys. My logic is if the state is so concerned about energy then they will flip the bill if not then its not really a concern so they should not pay for it, goverments care about things like energy all I care about is my bottom line if the energy costs get to out of hand I will leave, but I highly doubt that natural gas is going to spike to a point where new windows (about 4 grand) will pay for themselves in a year or two, because if that happens this nation will have bigger problems than energy rebates, that means my natural gas bill would have to be over 1000$ a month.

Also I dont even know if I will be here for the next 6 months with the way the oil and gas economy is going up here with the gov trying to gouge oil companies (of course if they dont gouge the companies they will gouge us and I may still have to leave) because they cant control there spending, hmm it looks like I argued myself right into agreeing with you, but the crux is the gov is not going to ever control its spending so I figure I might as well get some free windows out of it and hope to God that our association does not loose there FHA status and maybe the new windows would help me sell my place when I have to leave, I am not looking forward to the prospects here and I hope this state gets there act together ASAP, and they dont drag there heels for 2 years "negotiating" while everyone bails the state, the really sucky part is it would not be to move to the lower 48 but over seas because the lower 48 is worse, I am hoping I can ride this out in my currant position but frankly I am tired of my wages stagnating so I may be forced into a decision I dont like that I did not think I would have to make at all. All I hear the state talk about is that this is Alaska oil and alaskas gas, ok so is the state going to pay my mortgage when I loose my job becasue its "our" gas, I think not, its not our oil its the beaurocratic systems oil money.