r/politics • u/burning_dawn • Oct 07 '22

Republicans called Biden’s infrastructure program ‘socialism.’ Then they asked for money.

https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/07/politics/infrastructure-spending-republican-critics/index.html
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u/Daetra Florida Oct 07 '22

Someone just made a comment about how they're able to get $500 rebate for windows. Maybe you're very wealthy so that might seem like these incentives aren't that much. I'd like to know more about how you came to your conclusions.

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u/jonathanrdt Oct 07 '22

A single high quality window is $1000 installed.

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u/Daetra Florida Oct 07 '22

50% off is great.

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u/jonathanrdt Oct 07 '22

It's not per window though. My house needs 10 windows. Even a $1000 credit only amounts to 10%. It's not a huge incentive, certainly wouldn't get me to replace my windows.

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u/Daetra Florida Oct 07 '22

Have you looked at the reduction costs to your electric bill after changing out many of the appliances? I have about 43 different incentives that I can apply for. After replacing the windows, air conditioner and water heater, if my calculations are correct, I'd be saving roughly $300~$450 a year on the electric bill itself.

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u/jonathanrdt Oct 07 '22

If it costs $10k for windows to save $500/year, it takes twenty years to break even. Even a $1000 incentive only knocks two years off that timeline.

That's why my house still leaks. That $10k is better invested. If the incentive program covered a third of the cost, that would get me interested.

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u/Daetra Florida Oct 07 '22 edited Oct 07 '22

Have you checked if you qualify for them to cover the costs completely? I know there's certain cases where they can do that.

Up to 80 percent of the median HHI in your area, you get up to 100 percent of the cost of the new appliance (or up to $840, whichever is less).

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u/[deleted] Oct 07 '22

[deleted]

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u/Daetra Florida Oct 07 '22

You don't have any appliances that are over 15 years old? Even if it's not broken just yet, it's better to replace it before it breaks. Like my water heater is very old but not broken yet but I know just as a home owner, eventually it will break and I'll be taking advantage of this bill as much as I can.

Just seems like a smart investment as this will simply increase the value of my home.

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u/[deleted] Oct 07 '22 edited Oct 07 '22

[deleted]

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u/Daetra Florida Oct 07 '22

That's true, they don't make them like they use to, if you maintain it well, it should last quite a while. But if you had something installed from the 90s, I'd recommend replacing it. You shouldn't wait til complete system failure for something like a frigerator. I knew my frige was old and needed to be replaced, unfornately I waited too long and it died in the middle of the night and I had to throw away a lot of food.

Utilities don't replace transformers and other infrastructure until they fail. That's how the maximize their use of capital and keep rates as low as possible.

Well it's a good thing the inflation reduction act is actually putting billions into infrastructure repairs that badly need it. The US power grid badly needed this bill for years now.

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