The Air Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI) is a trade organization that regularly makes recommendations to Congress on energy efficiency matters. In May of 2012, several AHRI members had the opportunity to testify before Congress about two important energy savings bills that are currently under consideration. At Bill Joplin’s Air Conditioning & Heating, a HVAC dealer in Collin County, Texas, we pay close attention to energy savings bills ourselves. We strive to continually educate ourselves so we can better serve the needs of our customers.

The HOMES Act of 2012, which is an acronym for Home Owner Managing Energy Savings, was first introduced to Congress in March of 2012. This bill encourages homeowners to consider a voluntary energy efficiency retrofit for the purpose of reducing energy consumption. Under the HOMES Act, people who make qualified energy efficiency upgrades may be eligible for a tax rebate of up to $8,000 for reducing the energy generated in their homes by 50 percent.

One of the other energy savings bills that our company is following is the Smart Energy Act, which was introduced in Congress in February of 2012. The purpose of the plan is to use a combination of heat, power and waste heat recovery to double the current production of energy. The Smart Energy Act aims to achieve this goal by the year 2020. Lawmakers who introduced the bill would like to see a more concentrated effort by the federal government to improve energy efficiency overall. They are concerned that the United States is still too dependent on foreign sources of energy and feel that using alternative energy sources will help to curb this dependency.

Bill Joplin’s Air Conditioning & Heating supports these current energy savings bills for residents of Collin County and beyond. They will help all of us be more mindful of our energy consumption as well as save money.