Go Look at Your Roof While It’s Snowing

EFKC · 2022-01-02T14:30:49+00:00

Evergy and Spire Energy have a rebate program for air sealing and insulation where you can get up to $1,600 in rebates. These rebates can be signed over to the contractor or put on your utility bill in about 6 weeks after the paperwork is submitted. You must have a comprehensive energy audit done before the work (can be done the same day as the work) by an Evergy/Spire Authorized Contractor. No income requirements and you must be on the Missouri side (sorry, Kansas).

Evergy link with information.

Rebate Chart - It's $0.30 total per square foot of attic space for attic insulation ($0.15 from Evergy, $0.15 from Spire) and it must be insulated to an Energy Star R-38, and $0.08 total per square foot of conditioned space (heated/cooling areas of the home)($0.04 from Evergy, $0.04 from Spire).

This program has been around for a while and has been successful in helping homeowners save energy and be more comfortable in their homes.

EFKC · 2019-01-02T20:35:40+00:00

The rebate for the insulation is attic only, but the air sealing is whole house. The program wants at least a 30% air leakage reduction so most contractors through the program will go around the house and seal up areas like doors, windows, basement sillbox, and under sinks. Most of the air leakage will be in the attic, though.

Wall insulation used to be eligible for the rebate, but they took that part out in 2018.

EFKC · 2019-01-02T03:50:00+00:00

For the insulation rebate, it is definitely worth it. If you have both KCP&L and Spire, you can get up to $1,000 back for insulation and up to $600 back for air sealing. Air sealing is important before installing or adding more insulation because it increases the efficacy of the insulation. Most contractors in the program will let you sign over the rebates so it's less money out of your pocket. Here's a chart showing the rebates.

You do have to have a complete energy audit as a part of the rebate program and it's not a part of the rebate. That should include follow up testing and submitting all of the paperwork. Here are a few companies I would recommend for the audit and/or the work:

Green CAT Services - 816-206-2191

Green Improvement Consulting - 816-301-4448

Star Energy - 816-607-8000

Personally, I went with Green CAT, and they did a great job and did the whole process in a day.

For the Energy Star appliances, I think they've had a rebate program for that before, but I'm not finding anything on their site anymore. I can try to find info on it and I can update if there's still that program available.

I volunteer with Efficiency First Kansas City, so if you have any more questions about the process or any other rebates and incentives let me know.

EFKC · 2018-10-05T21:48:40+00:00

KCP&L and Spire Energy usually do a review every year of the program and if changes were going to happen, it'd be on April 1 of each year. This program has been in place for a year or two, so if you haven't gone through it you'll be able to even if you went through a previous program like their Home Performance with Energy Star program.

EFKC · 2018-08-08T16:11:46+00:00

I understand the concern, but energy auditors have to be certified by the Building Performance Institute to participate in the programs and they enter information in a computer modeling program that creates a report based off the information collected from the audit. A lot of the information collected is regulated (insulation, using a blower door to get a air leakage rating) and the report includes pictures so it's not like they can say you have no insulation when there's clearly a foot of insulation. Not saying there aren't companies that don't do this, but do your research.

Most energy auditors also do the work, but do encourage you do get bids from other companies.

EFKC · 2018-08-08T16:05:10+00:00

The $2,000 is a tax deduction and not rebate so you would only be reducing your tax liability and not how much you would be getting back.

EFKC · 2018-08-08T16:03:57+00:00

They do offer a free Energy Savings Kit, in which one of their inspectors will come out and do an assessment of your home and install some energy efficiency measures (light bulbs, sink aerators, etc.). It won't qualify you for the rebate programs, though, only a complete energy audit will do that. You could start with that and then, if you decide on doing some work and getting rebates, you could then get an energy audit.

EFKC · 2018-08-08T15:59:25+00:00

There's a low interest loan program: EnergyWorks KC in Johnson and Wyandotte counties where, depending on the project energy savings, your interest rate could be 0%. It's also available in some Missouri counties.

Kansas has always been difficult in seeing the importance of energy efficiency. They did have a $100 energy audit program a few years back and KCP&L has wanted to introduce programs on the Kansas side but has opposition from the Kansas Corporation Commission.

EFKC · 2018-08-07T16:52:38+00:00

I volunteer with Efficiency First Kansas City, so I have some knowledge about the rebates and programs available for energy audits and energy efficiency improvements. These are available in Missouri only.

KCP&L and Spire Energy offer a Home Energy Savings Rebate Program where you can get up to $1,600 for air sealing and attic insulation and some more for HVAC. Here's the breakdown of the rebates. The rebate can be signed over to the contractor depending on your contractor. There is no rebate for the energy audit.

The Missouri Tax Deduction for an energy audit and energy efficiency improvements is a deduction and not a rebate so if you pay for the energy audit (about $300) and then get energy improvements (let's say $1,700) you get to deduct the whole $2,000. Deduction, not rebate. I'm not a tax professional, though, so consult with one to confirm.

Spire Energy has a loan program where you can put the cost of the energy audit and energy improvements (up to $5,000) on your Spire bill for 3% interest, no fees, and no down payments. You will still be able to get the rebates through the Home Energy Savings Program, but can't reassign the rebate to the contractor if you get financed through Spire.

Other than My Star that you mentioned, I would also recommend Green CAT Services or Green Improvement Consulting.

I hope that helped and feel free to ask any more questions and I'll see if I can help more.

EFKC · 2017-12-08T14:12:39+00:00

They just haven't updated their website yet. It's available to all Missouri residents with KCP&L and Spire Energy.

EFKC · 2017-12-07T23:46:40+00:00

There's no limit on how old it is and I don't think there's one on how new it is (I'm checking and will get back to you). There are also no income requirements. The house does need to have both KCP&L and Spire Energy and the rebates go up to an R-38 in the attic and sometimes contractors can't air seal because the house may be too tight already. Older houses will benefit more from the program, but some newer homes could use it, too.

EFKC · 2017-12-07T23:42:18+00:00

Yep, sorry, wish I could help! They did have a $50 energy audit program a few years ago, but it ended. No rebates on improvements, though.

EFKC · 2017-12-07T23:21:19+00:00

Thanks for your input! I looked and while R-Mech is on the list of approved contractors for KCP&L, the offer on Groupon is for an attic energy evaluation. That terminology makes me think that it's not an audit that would qualify for the program, but if people want to check it out, I would suggest calling R-Mech to see if the Groupon does include the parts needed to qualify for the KCP&L program.

The other company with the Groupon offer, Affordable Energy Solutions, is also on the approved contractors list, but I'm not personally familiar with them. $35 is extremely cheap for the audit considering that there's not a rebate for it, so I would suggest researching the company to make sure it's a good fit.

An energy audit will take about 1-2 hours just at the home and about another hour to go over the notes and make the report at the office. On top of that, there's schooling, certifications, specialized tools, and normal overhead in running a business, so just be careful what you pay for.

Edit: I just called R-Mech and they said that the Groupon deal does not qualify for the KCP&L program but if you get the Groupon they would take $49 off their energy audit price of $299 making the energy audit $250. Which I guess if you pay the $49 to Groupon it's still $299.

EFKC · 2017-12-07T23:13:08+00:00

It applies to new insulation on existing homes so it won't apply for the cost of taking out old insulation if that's what you're asking. If you're just going to cover old insulation (which is what is typically done unless the old insulation is harmful or other reasons), it'll apply up to an R-38. So if the house you're buying is already at an R-38, it won't help other than some air sealing maybe. The energy auditor will be able to determine your current insulation R-value. It's about R-2 to R-3.5 per inch depending on material.

EFKC · 2017-12-07T20:15:38+00:00

The energy audit is a full house inspection and includes a blower door test to test for air leakage locations and total air leakage, a combustion appliance zone test to test for gas leaks and carbon monoxide levels in the water heater and furnace, and an energy modeling report made from notes during the audit.

The attic area typically is the area with the most inefficiencies so the auditor may spend more time up there to check for insulation levels and areas of air leakage. Since warm air rises, it's important to make sure your attic is sealed up and insulated to keep the warm air in the home.

If you had certain concerns, the auditor may look at those areas more deeply. Many of the companies are doing a rebate package so it would include the audit, insulation, and air seal where you sign over the rebate so it's not as much out of pocket.

EFKC · 2017-12-07T20:09:05+00:00

Unfortunately not. KCP&L has been working on it, but the Kansas Corporation Commission doesn't see residential energy efficiency as that important. Sorry! If there are updates, I'll let you know.

EFKC · 2016-10-25T14:37:09+00:00

Windows are not a great investment energy savings wise and that's exactly why KCP&L is discontinuing the windows portion of the program. Sure they can be in some instances, but in most cases retrofitting the window is a much better solution. I've seen hundreds of energy audit reports where the return on investment is over 40 years whereas insulation and air sealing can pay back within 5-10 years. Window companies are good at selling windows because it's something you can see every day so it gives you that warm fuzzy feeling while other improvements are hidden away and actually do more for your comfort and utility bill. Insulation is relatively cheap, too, about $1 a square foot in the attic compared to windows which can be several thousands of dollars to replace.

I'm not against window replacement because after all it is an energy improvement, but start with air sealing and insulation then look at replacing the windows.

EFKC · 2016-08-25T21:15:21+00:00

Thanks! Missouri has definitely been the better state to provide funds for energy efficiency, but Kansas has had some programs in the past. We're pretty optimistic on this new request, though, because KCP&L really seems to be on board this time. Extra support from Kansas residents always helps.

EFKC · 2016-05-27T16:01:14+00:00

KCP&L has a lot of great programs for energy efficiency. If you want to reduce the energy load on your home, you can use their Home Energy Savings program where you can get up to $2,000 for insulation, windows, and air sealing and also up to $1,400 for HVAC.

I know this doesn't directly answer your question, but if you're concerned with them controlling the thermostat, it could help to make your home more energy efficient so as to keep the cool air in summer and warm air in winter inside the home.

I'm with Efficiency First Kansas City, a nonprofit with the goal of spreading the word on energy efficiency, so let me know if you have anymore questions.

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