Doors and Windows - Replacing an Exterior Door

I didn't see any mention of this recently, so I figured I'd share it here. My wife and I were gonna wait until we got our tax returns to replace our very old wood front door. But the first cold wind we got this past week blew the dog's whiskers when he sniffed at the door. Not... good. :(

Anyhow, we found out that you can save up to $1500 on this year's taxes by replacing an exterior door. I think we actually knew that at some point, but I forgot about it entirely. The government websites are a tad bit confusing, so be sure whatever you're buying qualifies. Pretty good info can be found here Energy Tax Credit for Energy Saving Products (http://myenergytax.com) and here Federal Tax Credits for Energy Efficiency : ENERGY STAR (http://energystar.gov/taxcredits).

Actually, the tax credit is 30% of the cost of the door/windows, not including labor, up to $1500 max. To get $1500 noff that door it would have be horribly expensive.

Actually, the door would only have to be $5000 to get the full $1500 credit. If you've got a decent door with sidelights, that's really not "horribly expensive." If you're looking at a plain door with no glass, sure, that's pretty steep. But every home in my neighborhood has a door with at least half glass and two sidelights. That $5000 price point is pretty much in the neighborhood of what we're looking at.

You actually have until the end of 2010 for the energy tax credit.

I didn't see any mention of this recently, so I figured I'd share it here. My wife and I were gonna wait until we got our tax returns to replace our very old wood front door. But the first cold wind we got this past week blew the dog's whiskers when he sniffed at the door. Not... good. :(

Anyhow, we found out that you can save up to $1500 on this year's taxes by replacing an exterior door. I think we actually knew that at some point, but I forgot about it entirely. The government websites are a tad bit confusing, so be sure whatever you're buying qualifies. Pretty good info can be found here Energy Tax Credit for Energy Saving Products (http://myenergytax.com) and here Federal Tax Credits for Energy Efficiency : ENERGY STAR (http://energystar.gov/taxcredits).

Oh yeah, you're right. I think we're gonna do it before the end of the year anyhow so we can claim it on this year's taxes. Kind of an instant gratification thing. Heh. :)

You actually have until the end of 2010 for the energy tax credit.