"Cash for Caulkers" Intended to Improve Energy Efficiency in Homes

St. Louis, Dec. 18 — Financial blog, ChristianPF.com released an article discussing the new proposed Home Star stimulus plan, more commonly called "Cash for Caulkers." Somewhat based off the Cash for Clunkers program, this stimulus would be geared towards homeowners who weatherized their homes – making them more energy efficient. As of now the details are up in the air, but you can bet that some variation of the Home Star stimulus program will be in effect soon.
It seems at this point the details are anything but certain. Steve Nadel, director at the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, who's helping write the bill, says, "a homeowner could receive up to $12,000 in rebates." And on the other hand you see some saying, "The homeowner then gets a reimbursement check from the agency for 10% of the project cost, up to $3,000, usually within 30 days."
And then somewhere in the middle you read what John Doerr says, "Mr. Doerr, who sits on a board of outside economic advisers to Mr. Obama that is working on a formal cash-for-caulkers proposal, told me that his goal was to 'keep it really simple so we can do it really fast.' The Doerr plan would cost $23 billion over two years. Most of the money would go for incentive payments, generally $2,000 to $4,000, for weatherization projects. The homeowner would always have to pay at least 50 percent of the project's total cost."
As we have seen with all of the stimulus programs in the last year (Cash for Clunkers, Cash for Appliances, the $8000 homebuyer tax credit, and the $6500 tax credit), when the government just tries to hammer these things out really quick, details are sometimes overlooked and they can get kind of messy. The Cash for Caulkers program seems like it will be no different. Adding to that, the difficulty of homeowners figuring out what projects would and wouldn't provide benefit is just going to add to the confusion.
Read the full article: http://www.christianpf.com/cash-for-caulkers-home-star-stimulus-program/