The list below specifies the energy efficient home improvement and appliance additions you can make to your home in 2013 to save money on your next tax return. Application instructions for all of the Federal Tax Credits listed can be found on the ENERGY STAR® website.

Water Heaters

Hot water is an expensive commodity, and your old water heater may be racking up your electric or gas bill on a daily basis. Heating water accounts for 14-25% of your home’s energy consumption, so a highly-efficient electric or gas water heater can save a lot of money. A new ENERGY STAR®-qualified water heater (look for the label) is eligible for a tax credit of $300, a hefty savings.

Central Air Conditioners

Summer is just around the corner and air conditioning is a must-have for many residences. If you’re looking to upgrade your old Central Air Conditioning (CAC) unit, a $300 federal tax credit for the cost can be used on specific ENERGY STAR models of CACs purchased by December 31, 2013. In addition, rebates for CACs can be found in most states. ENERGY STAR-labeled air conditioners are 15% more efficient than most conventional models. You can find an entire list of Energy Efficiency Rebate Programs for air conditioners at DSIREusa.org.

Windows and Doors

Tax credits for windows and doors are also available. The tax credit will repay 10% of the cost up to $500. Windows are capped at $200. Full replacement of windows or doors in the home is not required to receive the tax credit. Better yet, you can add a window or doorway to your home and still be eligible to apply.

Insulation and Air Sealing

Insulation and air sealing is eligible for a tax credit of 10% of the cost up to $500. These measures are some of the most cost-effective energy efficiency improvements you can make; they can reduce unwanted air flow in and out of your home and help control your home’s climate, saving you energy and money.

Renewable Energy Systems

If you are interested in renewable energy systems but budget is a concern, now is the time to take advantage of tax credits. Solar energy systems, wind turbines, and geothermal heat pumps are still items to consider for the next several years. Each can improve your home’s carbon footprint while producing your own electricity, heating, cooling, or hot water. Arguably the most valuable federal tax credit for energy efficiency, these systems are eligible for tax credits of 30% of the total cost, with no dollar cap, and they are available through 2016.

Be sure to check out ENERGY STAR for more details on these tax credits, and start making plans for your spring and summer energy efficiency improvements now! Next tax season, you’ll be glad you did.

Source: energy.gov

The “Apparatus for Treating Air,” which was granted U.S. Patent# 808897 in 1906, was the first of several patents awarded to Willis Haviland Carrier. The air conditioning device would historically impact factory productivity, building design, population trends, and, ultimately, the growth of U.S. Sunbelt cities, like Atlanta and Houston.

Interesting to note that while Carrier is recognized as the “father of air conditioning,” the term “air conditioning” actually originated with textile engineer, Stuart H. Cramer. Cramer used the phrase “air conditioning” in a different 1906 patent claim, filed for a device that added water vapor to the air in textile plants to condition the yarn.

Another modern and significant amenity of the sale of air conditioning began in March, 1914, when the Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, established the first incubator room, capable of providing a healthy, comfortable environment for infants. Air conditioning for patient care would be adopted by hospitals around the world throughout the 20th century.

Willis Haviland Carrier (November 26, 1876 – October 6, 1950) received the first F. Paul Anderson Award in 1932. The coveted award, named for F. Paul Anderson, ASHVE president in 1927 and an ASHVE laboratory director from 1921 to 1925, “was given by the American Society of Heating and Ventilating Engineers in recognition of work done and meritorious services performed in the field of heating, ventilation or air conditioning.”

Sources: Mary Bellis and Carrier Corporation

Special thanks given to the Carrier Corporation

For now, we would like to take a few minutes to show you how you can create and customize your own Sedona function blocks for the EasyIO controller using the Tridium Niagara platform. This Stromquist & Company tutorial will get you up and running in no time. With even just a basic understanding of programming, we’ll get you started with your own custom design.
Mike and Lim are making their way across the United States, like the rock stars they are, so be sure to contact your local automation controls distributor, to see if they are coming to a town near you!  For more on Mike, Lim and EasyIO click the link. 

FACT: Rebuilt controls do NOT incorporate new code requirements or design specifications.
Rebuilt controls can ONLY reflect the original requirements and requirements as their original date of manufacture. Other words OLD technology and safety requirements are the best you could hope for.
How do you recognize a rebuilt Honeywell boiler burner control?
As stated NO repair rebuild facility is authorized by Honeywell to repair or rebuild a Honeywell boiler-burner control. By law ALL rebuilt/repaired Honeywell boiler-burner controls MUST have ALL identification originally placed on the control by Honeywell REMOVED including Honeywell logos. The control must have a label placed on the control stating the control is re-manufactured NOT by the original controls manufacturer (Honeywell).
Another perspective regarding the negative ramifications of using rebuilt burner – boiler controls in manufacturing processes can be found in this article in the September 2003 issue of Plant Engineering.
BE WISE BUY AUTHORIZED
One way to protect yourself from a possible litigious situation is to only buy your flame safeguard burner boiler controls from an authorized Honeywell Flame safeguard distributor.
Think about it, does it really make sense to buy insurance to protect yourself in case of a boiler explosion only to find out that you have negated your protection because you are using controls that are not approved by your safety insurer?
If you are not sure if you have factory approved flame safeguard controls and you are in Georgia or Florida you can contact Stromquist & Company for an on site survey. Others can find an authorized Honeywell Flame safeguard distributor at Controls Group North America.

Stromquist Lunch and Learn: HVAC Controls Valves and Actuators: Join Stromquist & Company’s Tim Chamblee for this very informative class on HVAC Control Valves and Actuators.

McKenney’s Inc. Analyzes Building Sensors to Cut Energy Costs with Splunk: Congratulations to Brian Gilmore and his team at McKenneys for their successful implementation of Spluk to gather and analyze data in buildings to make them more energy efficient.

Haystack Connect Breakout Session on Energy: The Energy Breakout session had excellent speakers. This video shows Scot Duncan, from Enerliance. Scot, is a dynamic speaker, and introduced the group to some refinements on energy saving strategies that yield huge results. As one of California’s leading building controls experts, Scot backs up his claims with actual results, and a very potent energy saving platform called LOBOS.

Security Webinar: Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED):Building integrators and facility managers should take advantage of this great training and security insight opportunity provided by Panasonic and ASIS International entitled: CPTED for the Modern Security Professional, May 15, 2013, 1:00-2:00 EST.

Applying the principles of Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) is very effective in protecting assets as well as drastically improving the quality-of-life experience in work and living environments. Get a quick refresher on the principles, practices, and strategies of CPTED and review how they can be applied to all building types, risk threat vulnerability assessments, and critical infrastructure protection.

DG Logik Announces 2013 CTA Awards Platinum Sponsorship: ControlTrends Awards thanks Eugene Mazo and DG Logik, the global leader in Visual Analytics, for their Platinum Sponsorship for the 2013 CTA Awards Show to be held at the BB King Blues Café in NYC, January 21, 2014. Visualize the Internet of Things with Drag and Drop Programming using DGLogik’s Affordable DGBox. Now YOU can Build Visually Stunning Applications and Dashboards without Code.

John Wilder Tukey: The Pioneer of Big Data and Visualization:
“If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.” Sir Isaac Newton
Big Data and Data Visualization are two of the most dominating forces now shaping and steering our lives and our industry, but they’ve both had quite an interesting lineage and some very wide shoulders to stand upon. “The greatest value of a picture is when it forces us to notice what we never expected to see.” John W. Tukey Exploratory Data Analysis, 1977

John Wilder Tukey, a mathematician who first coined the term “exploratory data analysis,” was right when he suggested that the idea of visualization helps us see what we have not noticed before. That is especially true when you are trying to identify relationships and find meaning in huge amounts of collected data

ASHRAE Series Continued: Excerpts from the 1924 ASHRAE GUIDE: ControlTrends invites you to keep a continuous glimpse in review of how our industry’s engineering scaffolding was put into place and ASHRAE’s unending quest for industry standards and excellence.

Niagara Security Patches: Get Them Done! Tridium Hackers Hit Google’s Australia Office:

Upcoming Events:
IBCON Co-locating with REALcomm and InfoComm 13: June 12-13, 2013, Orange County Convention Center, Orlando, FL

ControlTalk NOW will continue to provide a weekly episode featuring the people, products, and the News of the Week shaping our world of controls, building automation, and the HVAC industry.

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