Investing in Energy Efficiency Made Easy

1. I don’t have the cash right now. Re-insulating my house and switching from a traditional water heater to solar panels backed up by an on-demand water heater cost me about $10,000. That’s a lot of money, which I added to my mortgage but few people have that much cash just lying around, and many might not have the space in their credit rating.

2. I’m not sure I can recoup the costs. The stuff I did will pay for itself in 8 – 10 years (although it was worth it to get rid of the ice-cold floor in winter). But I’m not sure I’ll still own the house in 10 years, nor am I sure that a potential buyer is going to recognize the (invisible) value of better insulation.

3. I don’t know much about this stuff and uncertainty is scary. I don’t know how long it will take me to get my money back on these investments – although my best guess of a 12 per cent return is a lot better than what I’d get from the bank. And I didn’t have any personal experience with solar hot water panels, so I’m not sure that I bought the best ones; I’m also a little worried that they could well scare potential future buyers of the home who don’t understand the technology. That sort of uncertainty is intimidating for anyone considering a major purchase.

By offering a low-interest loan, you overcome objection number 1. Making the repayment part of property taxes takes care of number 2, as both the cost and benefits are transferred to the next owner if you sell. And having a larger program helps deal with objection number 3 – solar panels could quickly become the norm rather than the exception, plus you know you can spread out the repayments so your net monthly bills should go down.

So send that L.A. Times story to your City Councillor – I already have.

by Keith Stewart