SERVING 
If you’re keen to save thousands of dollars by upgrading to energy-efficient appliances, you’ve probably heard about Georgia’s Home Energy Rebate (HER) and Home Electrification and Appliance Rebate (HEAR) programs. These programs provide significant financial assistance to households that replace older heating and cooling systems, water heaters, and other appliances with energy-saving models.
Depending on your income, you could save up to $16,000. The savings opportunities are tremendous!
Of course, the government wants to make sure the upgrades you select actually will save energy. To that end, a comprehensive energy audit is required for all HER-qualifying upgrades. Certain HEAR-qualifying projects also require an analysis of your home’s current energy use, particularly the areas of your home with the most heat loss or heat gain.
Let’s do a deep dive into the energy audit aspect of Georgia’s rebate programs. We’ll consider how audits assist in qualifying for energy rebates and how the audit informs your upgrade choices.
Georgia HER rebates and home energy assessments
To qualify for a HER rebate, you need to reduce your home’s energy consumption by at least 20%.
There are a variety of qualifying upgrades that can contribute toward that 20% reduction–replacing your heating and cooling system, replacing your water heater, adding insulation, air sealing your home–but the main thing is that you need to cross that 20% threshold.
So, how do we determine whether you’ve hit the 20% milestone? You guessed it! By performing a home energy assessment, aka an energy audit.
In fact, energy audits are required for the HER program. By calculating your home’s current energy use and then modeling your projected post-upgrade energy use, we can calculate how much energy the upgrades save.
If the proposed upgrades save 20% or more energy, you qualify for the rebate!
At PV Heating, Cooling and Plumbing, we use energy modeling software approved by the Georgia Energy Finance Commission (GEFA) to perform your audit. In addition to showing whether you’ll qualify for a rebate, the audit can help us identify the best opportunities to save energy at your home.
If the upgrades we perform reduce your home’s energy consumption by 35% or more, you actually qualify for an even larger HER rebate!
Keep in mind that PV has been performing home comfort and energy reduction projects in Atlanta-area households for well over a decade. Our experienced team knows exactly how to target your upgrades to maximize energy savings and get you the biggest rebate possible.
The HEAR rebate program is different from HER. With HEAR, it’s all about home electrification and home modifications that save energy.
To qualify for HEAR, you don’t have to prove you’ve reduced energy consumption by 20% and no energy audit is required. However, if you’re seeking a HEAR rebate for an insulation or air sealing project, it is important to analyze the energy loss in your home with a blower door test.
This makes sense because:
- Many households can improve indoor comfort and maximize energy savings by improving their insulation and air sealing their attics and crawlspaces.
- Insulating and air sealing can help you increase the HEAR rebate you receive by $1,600.
- The blower door test reveals which areas of your home to prioritize for maximum insulation and air sealing impact.
At PV, we’re Building Performance Institute (BPI)-certified contractors who have been helping Atlanta-area homeowners improve comfort and save energy for almost twenty years. As approved contractors for Georgia’s HER and HEAR programs, our team is ready to tackle your energy audit and help you maximize your rebate!
To get an idea of how much you can save with these programs, plug your info into the calculator below. Keep in mind that this is just a ballpark figure and that a PV customer advocate can help you determine your largest rebate.
To help Metro Atlanta homeowners identify which program (and which upgrades) can deliver the maximum rebate, we’ve created a HEAR and HER-focused Customer Advocate Center.
Contact a PV customer advocate today to learn more about HER, HEAR, energy audits, and to maximize your rebate savings!
