The Cash for Clunkers program has been a huge success for the automobile industry and will reduce gasoline consumption for years to come. 

There is a similar savings opportunity available with your home comfort system, if you choose to upgrade to the high efficiency furnaces and air conditioners (or heat pumps) available today. And when you couple these savings with the Federal Energy Tax Credit of up to $1500 this makes now the best time ever to upgrade your system.

If you drive a car 15,000 miles / year and get 15 mpg you will use 1000 gallons of gasoline. This morning Holiday Gas station was selling a gallon of gas for $2.45/ gallon, which means you would spend $2450 for the gas to drive those 15,000 miles. Now upgrade that car to a 20 mpg model and your gas consumption drops to 750 gallons and at that same price per gallon, an annual savings of  $ 612.50 (or 25%).

The $2450 annual expense is very close to the amount spent to heat and cool the average Minnesota home each year. An upgrade to today’s high efficiency furnaces and air conditioners (or heat pump) will realize at least a 25% improvement in efficiency over your current 10 + year old system and when coupled with the Federal Energy Tax Credit of up to $1500 , this makes upgrading your home comfort system a better investment than upgrading your car.

And lastly, when you look at the life expectancy of a new car ( 5-7 years) versus the life expectancy of a new home comfort system (12-20 years) it truly becomes a “no brainer”. And the icing on the cake is that there is a ROI (return on investment) for the home comfort system, and we all know the value of the car after 7 years.