Free talk to address home energy topics, tax savings

A free community talk on Thursday, Oct. 3 will address a number of energy topics for both homeowners and renters, who can discover myriad ways to make homes more energy efficient.

Moving to Clean Energy in Our Homes and How the Inflation Reduction Act Can Help will be held at 6:30 p.m. at Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Wayne County, 3186 Burbank Road, Wooster. A Q-and-A session will follow the presentation. The event is open to the public, and no reservations are required.

Featured speaker Hallie M. Bowie is an architect and a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design associate. LEED is a green building certification program used worldwide. Bowie will speak about practical steps homeowners can take to reduce their carbon footprint at home, beginning with making a plan tailored to their own household.

“Having a plan will help you get maximum benefit out of the Inflation Reduction Act tax credits for electrifying your home heating, cooking and driving and for adding solar panels to sunny roofs,” Bowie said.

Bowie said making energy-efficient decisions is important to everyone, regardless of income.

“Today, home electrification is for everyone, not just those who have extra income available for cutting edge technologies,” she said. “If you will be responsible for choosing a new air-conditioner, water heater or furnace when your current ones need replacement, then you need to know how today's equipment is different from what was available in the past. Making a plan today will help you make choices about equipment replacement that will provide you with better value and comfort, as well as being in keeping with your personal values.”

Giving consideration to things like the air sealing and insulation in a home has the potential to save money monthly on heating and cooling.

“Most people are interested in a healthy and comfortable home, as well as reducing utility bills,” Bowie said. “Moving toward high-performance electrical appliances can improve indoor air quality, eliminate risks from carbon monoxide and improve factors like indoor humidity that affect comfort.

“And if you have heard about the Inflation Reduction Act but don't know how it can help you to improve your home, this will give you money-saving insights.”

Bowie said the presentation will focus on single-family homes and current incentives geared toward those who pay taxes and can benefit from tax credits.

“Point of sale rebates will eventually be available for people making less than 150% of the area median income, but those are not yet available in Ohio,” she said.

Additionally, there will be some discussion of electric vehicles including personal experience on owning one and tax credits available for purchasing an EV or installing a home charging station.

The presentation will run about an hour with a Q-and-A afterward. Attendees are invited to bring all their questions. Bowie offered some possible questions people might be curious about including questions about equipment options (how a heat pump is different from an air-conditioner or what is a mini-split), how to create a plan for moving your home off fossil fuels, or how features of your home will affect your plan (radiator heating, sloping ceilings on upper floors, age of roof shingles and more).

For those interested and unable to attend, Bowie offers these online resource websites: Electrify Now and Rewiring America. Rewiring America has a Personal Electrification Planner. Additionally, Bowie is a certified electric coach and available to do individual home electrification consultations for those who would like assistance in creating their electrification plan.

The event is sponsored by the Wayne County Sustainable Energy Network and the Wooster Interfaith Justice Committee Climate Change Group.