Friday, October 7, 2011

Led Decking Lights and Its Benefits | Home Improvement Advice

October 05, 2011 By: admin Category: Outdoor, lighting

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led decking lights

When speaking about led decking lights, the first thing we should know is about its benefits. Led deck lights are very great when used at night as they will create a stunning effect. What we should know about them is that they can be used in many different occasions. When you are interested in getting one, then you will be given with some different sizes available to choose from. You can choose from 12 mm to 90 mm, while there are many things to consider, you should know that these led outdoor lights come with some improvements compared with the original version. These led decking lights can be used for many different purposes.

Led decking lights to create a stunning effect in your home

Led decking lights are very useful when used for garden installation or decking and the fact is these lights also serve other purposes. You can also put these lights in other locations in your home that you think will enhance the interior design of your home. The fact is that LED lights can also be inserted into ceilings or other places in your home. The other thing you should know is that these deck lights have the same effect just like the fiber optic lights. You can also put these decking lights in the bathroom ceilings as they will match perfectly when placed properly. The fact is that there are many locations where you can put these decking lights. For example, you can choose your kitchen as these lights will make your kitchen looks beautiful. The options are unlimited as you can also put these decking lights in stairs, fire surrounds, cabinets, plate racks and many more. Knowing about these facts, you can also try to experiment by putting them in other locations in your home. The presence of these led decking lights will add luxury in your home when you add them in the correct place.

led decking lights

Led decking lights as emergency lighting

Led decking lights can also be used as emergency lighting so that you can use them the whole night. They are not only useful due to its beautiful design but they can also be used as lighting solution in your house. So if you want to get decking lighting, the best place is to go through internet. In the internet, you will be able to get led decking as there are many online stores available to choose from. Adding led decking lights is a good option for those who want to create a delightful effect in their home.
*img 1 courtesy of long island decking inc, img 2 courtesy of www.bau-outdoors.co.uk

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Blood Pressure Remedies | AHF Health Blog

Having a high blood pressure is kind of scary.? There are so many conditions and diseases you are at a higher risk of developing with a high blood pressure, and they?re all serious.? Looking into some blood pressure remedies is a good idea even if you only have a moderately high blood pressure.

Fortunately, there are a lot of effective blood pressure remedies out there, so you don?t have to look far.? There are a lot of things you can do with very little physical effort.? Cutting down your sodium intake could help lower your blood pressure considerably.? Quitting smoking, and reducing alcohol and caffeine intake will help even more.? Smoking is especially horrible for blood pressure, and if you do in fact smoke kicking your habit will probably be the best blood pressure remedy you?ll ever try.? Moderate to heavy drinking can also lead to an overall higher blood pressure, and caffeine and other stimulants are definite culprits as well.

Another good blood pressure remedy is to look into the stress and pressure you have in your life.? You may not be able to avoid stressful situations, but you can change the way you react to them.? Getting worked up, worried, and anxious is not good for you, and furthermore it doesn?t do any good either.? Anxiety is a major cause for high blood pressure for people.? Just the knowledge of having a high blood pressure can produce a lot of anxiety for people, which then in turn makes your blood pressure worse!? Some effective, safe, and healthy blood pressure remedies are therefore focused on reducing anxiety; meditation, prayer, relaxation techniques, cutting out stimulant use, music, therapy, and frequent exercise are all examples of ways to reduce anxiety.

That last example, exercise, is probably the single best thing you can do for yourself.? Not only does frequent exercise reduce anxiety, but it strengthens your heart which in turn will work wonders in lowering blood pressure.? Some of the best blood pressure remedies are therefore different exercises you can do to stay active.? Play a sport, go for a walk everyday, anything at all!

Keeping a healthy weight is also a good blood pressure remedy.? Obesity in itself can cause a high blood pressure, even if you are doing everything else right, because your heart has to work harder to get your blood where it needs to go.? Healthy diets therefore may also be good blood pressure remedies.

Of course, your doctor knows the best blood pressure remedies as well, and it?s never a bad idea to talk to him or her about it.? If you have especially high blood pressure you may need a medication in addition to everything else.

Having a high blood pressure is kind of scary.? There are so many conditions and diseases you are at a higher risk of developing with a high blood pressure, and they?re all serious.? Looking into some blood pressure remedies is a good idea even if you only have a moderately high blood pressure. Fortunately, there are a lot of effective blood pressure remedies out there, so you don?t have to look far.? There are a lot of things you can do with very little physical effort.? Cutting down your sodium intake could help lower your blood pressure considerably.? Quitting smoking, and reducing alcohol and caffeine intake will help even more.? Smoking is especially horrible for blood pressure, and if you do in fact smoke kicking your habit will probably be the best blood pressure remedy you?ll ever try.? Moderate to heavy drinking can also lead to an overall higher blood pressure, and caffeine and other stimulants are definite culprits as well. Another good blood pressure remedy is to look into the stress and pressure you have in your life.? You may not be able to avoid stressful situations, but you can change the way you react to them.? Getting worked up, worried, and anxious is not good for you, and furthermore it doesn?t do any good either.? Anxiety is a major cause for high blood pressure for people.? Just the knowledge of having a high blood pressure can produce a lot of anxiety for people, which then in turn makes your blood pressure worse!? Some effective, safe, and healthy blood pressure remedies are therefore focused on reducing anxiety; meditation, prayer, relaxation techniques, cutting out stimulant use, music, therapy, and frequent exercise are all examples of ways to reduce anxiety. That last example, exercise, is probably the single best thing you can do for yourself.? Not only does frequent exercise reduce anxiety, but it strengthens your heart which in turn will work wonders in lowering blood pressure.? Some of the best blood pressure remedies are therefore different exercises you can do to stay active.? Play a sport, go for a walk everyday, anything at all! Keeping a healthy weight is also a good blood pressure remedy.? Obesity in itself can cause a high blood pressure, even if you are doing everything else right, because your heart has to work harder to get your blood where it needs to go.? Healthy diets therefore may also be good blood pressure remedies. Of course, your doctor knows the best blood pressure remedies as well, and it?s never a bad idea to talk to him or her about it.? If you have especially high blood pressure you may need a medication in addition to everything else.

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Having a high blood pressure is kind of scary.? There are so many conditions and diseases you are at a higher risk of developing with a high blood pressure, and they?re all serious.? Looking into some blood pressure remedies is a good idea even if you only have a moderately high blood pressure. Fortunately, there are a lot of effective blood pressure remedies out there, so you don?t have to look far.? There are a lot of things you can do with very little physical effort.? Cutting down your sodium intake could help lower your blood pressure considerably.? Quitting smoking, and reducing alcohol and caffeine intake will help even more.? Smoking is especially horrible for blood pressure, and if you do in fact smoke kicking your habit will probably be the best blood pressure remedy you?ll ever try.? Moderate to heavy drinking can also lead to an overall higher blood pressure, and caffeine and other stimulants are definite culprits as well. Another good blood pressure remedy is to look into the stress and pressure you have in your life.? You may not be able to avoid stressful situations, but you can change the way you react to them.? Getting worked up, worried, and anxious is not good for you, and furthermore it doesn?t do any good either.? Anxiety is a major cause for high blood pressure for people.? Just the knowledge of having a high blood pressure can produce a lot of anxiety for people, which then in turn makes your blood pressure worse!? Some effective, safe, and healthy blood pressure remedies are therefore focused on reducing anxiety; meditation, prayer, relaxation techniques, cutting out stimulant use, music, therapy, and frequent exercise are all examples of ways to reduce anxiety. That last example, exercise, is probably the single best thing you can do for yourself.? Not only does frequent exercise reduce anxiety, but it strengthens your heart which in turn will work wonders in lowering blood pressure.? Some of the best blood pressure remedies are therefore different exercises you can do to stay active.? Play a sport, go for a walk everyday, anything at all! Keeping a healthy weight is also a good blood pressure remedy.? Obesity in itself can cause a high blood pressure, even if you are doing everything else right, because your heart has to work harder to get your blood where it needs to go.? Healthy diets therefore may also be good blood pressure remedies. Of course, your doctor knows the best blood pressure remedies as well, and it?s never a bad idea to talk to him or her about it.? If you have especially high blood pressure you may need a medication in addition to everything else.

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Luxury And Style Beauty Collection - Technology of Power Station

THE RARE combination of beauty with brains, the gorgeous designer has taken Indian fashion to a different label. Her foray into French fashion has won many accolades has added yet another first to her credentials by becoming the first Indian designer to be invited to participate at the much awaited fashion soiree.

The Debutant Ball held annually at Paris. Find the designer herself in conversation with Stylekandy.com, Even when not showing elsewhere, why did you show at the Gitanjali Luxury Style fest in Dec 08 in Mumbai, almost a year before WIFW. Yeah?I did it, I felt that I should go ahead with it and hence just did it. No strategies involved the day and time suited me and so did it. Your show at WIFW was like a comeback show for you, what preparations did you have to make it grand.

I will never call my show at WIFW as my comeback show because I never disappeared from the Indian fashion industry. I have no clues why everyone is naming it as my comeback show? Since my collection was inspiring and loads of hard work has gone in it, so over all the show was well presented and by God?s grace it was a success. Bollywood incursion is often frivolous, how do you justify Abhay Deol walking the ramp with you? He was not my show stopper.

He walked because he is a good friend. But there really is no one like Abhay ? he is so cool, so himself, totally relaxed, adventurous, young and presents a modern India. There?s no one better I could have brought. With the height and body that you are blessed with, why do not you consider modelling your own clothes. Never ever did that thought cross my mind?I always wanted to be the creator and may be not the presenter. My inclination was more towards designing so?and now, it?s too late. What was the thought behind the launch of Beri Baby collection?

After my daughter?s birth, I realized that in India kids wear is only constrained to ready-to-wear, so thought of coming out with a line of occasional wear dresses for the toddlers. You were the first Asian designer to head the French fashion brand, Scherrer and now again you are the first Indian designer to represent India at The Debutant ball, Le Ball held annually at Paris. How was the journey like.

My journey can be defined as exciting with loads of hard work. It?s not like I had a smooth path of success, even I saw those bad days which everyone tastes during their journey of life. I went through testing periods?but since I really wanted to make it big and grand so made it. My work has always been appreciated in Paris, already retailing through couple of stores there?so may be that why they chose me this year to be a part of Le Ball. Why did you choose Kashmiri princess, Adishree Singh to represent the gown designed by you at Le Ball.

My work always aims at presenting the Indian sensibility with a tint of modernity and urbaneness. I will be representing India and will make her look modern with some Indian touch. The sole focus is to retain modernity but still showcasing the real Indian fashion. Adishree will be presenting India in all its glory wearing a dramatic skirt and blouse. What is the design philosophy that you maintain while design? Fashion is eternal. The roots of fashion go deep into the yester years. Fashion can never be projected by restricting it to clothes. instead it should go beyond clothes to beauty, hair, footwear and other accessories. It reflects our personality, hence should be very comfortable and what you believe in. How would you describe the growth of the Indian fashion industry in the past decade.

Today, the Indian fashion industry has undergone a metamorphosis. People within and outside the fashion industry has started taking it as a serious profession. It has grown on a large scale and has achieved its recognition on the global platform too earlier India hardly had any fashion schools, but today parents are also eyeing this as a respected professional and hence encouraging their kids. The fashion bodies are also playing a great role, promoting emerging talents is a great task and on top of it, maintaining a consistency is also very pivotal.

Do you think that the Indian fashion industry cannot work according to the 6 months projection time unlike the global fashion world? Indian fashion is specific to India and its seasonal cycles. We have a long summer and a very small period of winters?so definitely, six month projection does not work that well with the Indian fashion industry. Future plans? For the time being it?s only Le Ball at Paris, rest you will get to know about as things will start coming up.


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By Ishaa Goyal

THE RARE combination of beauty with brains, the gorgeous designer has taken Indian fashion to a different label. Her foray into French fashion has won many accolades has added yet another first to her credentials by becoming the first Indian designer to be invited to participate at the much awaited fashion soiree.

The Debutant Ball held annually at Paris. Find the designer herself in conversation with Stylekandy.com, Even when not showing elsewhere, why did you show at the Gitanjali Luxury Style fest in Dec 08 in Mumbai, almost a year before WIFW. Yeah?I did it, I felt that I should go ahead with it and hence just did it. No strategies involved the day and time suited me and so did it. Your show at WIFW was like a comeback show for you, what preparations did you have to make it grand.

I will never call my show at WIFW as my comeback show because I never disappeared from the Indian fashion industry. I have no clues why everyone is naming it as my comeback show? Since my collection was inspiring and loads of hard work has gone in it, so over all the show was well presented and by God?s grace it was a success. Bollywood incursion is often frivolous, how do you justify Abhay Deol walking the ramp with you? He was not my show stopper.

He walked because he is a good friend. But there really is no one like Abhay ? he is so cool, so himself, totally relaxed, adventurous, young and presents a modern India. There?s no one better I could have brought. With the height and body that you are blessed with, why do not you consider modelling your own clothes. Never ever did that thought cross my mind?I always wanted to be the creator and may be not the presenter. My inclination was more towards designing so?and now, it?s too late. What was the thought behind the launch of Beri Baby collection?

After my daughter?s birth, I realized that in India kids wear is only constrained to ready-to-wear, so thought of coming out with a line of occasional wear dresses for the toddlers. You were the first Asian designer to head the French fashion brand, Scherrer and now again you are the first Indian designer to represent India at The Debutant ball, Le Ball held annually at Paris. How was the journey like.

My journey can be defined as exciting with loads of hard work. It?s not like I had a smooth path of success, even I saw those bad days which everyone tastes during their journey of life. I went through testing periods?but since I really wanted to make it big and grand so made it. My work has always been appreciated in Paris, already retailing through couple of stores there?so may be that why they chose me this year to be a part of Le Ball. Why did you choose Kashmiri princess, Adishree Singh to represent the gown designed by you at Le Ball.

My work always aims at presenting the Indian sensibility with a tint of modernity and urbaneness. I will be representing India and will make her look modern with some Indian touch. The sole focus is to retain modernity but still showcasing the real Indian fashion. Adishree will be presenting India in all its glory wearing a dramatic skirt and blouse. What is the design philosophy that you maintain while design? Fashion is eternal. The roots of fashion go deep into the yester years. Fashion can never be projected by restricting it to clothes. instead it should go beyond clothes to beauty, hair, footwear and other accessories. It reflects our personality, hence should be very comfortable and what you believe in. How would you describe the growth of the Indian fashion industry in the past decade.

Today, the Indian fashion industry has undergone a metamorphosis. People within and outside the fashion industry has started taking it as a serious profession. It has grown on a large scale and has achieved its recognition on the global platform too earlier India hardly had any fashion schools, but today parents are also eyeing this as a respected professional and hence encouraging their kids. The fashion bodies are also playing a great role, promoting emerging talents is a great task and on top of it, maintaining a consistency is also very pivotal.

Do you think that the Indian fashion industry cannot work according to the 6 months projection time unlike the global fashion world? Indian fashion is specific to India and its seasonal cycles. We have a long summer and a very small period of winters?so definitely, six month projection does not work that well with the Indian fashion industry. Future plans? For the time being it?s only Le Ball at Paris, rest you will get to know about as things will start coming up.

Hi,I am Ishaa Goyal from India, by profession i Hi,I am Ishaa Goyal from India, by profession i am citizen journalist. Recently i m covering news on Lifestyle article and Fashion Industry in India .I have written number of fashion related articles.

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Ishaa Goyal has published 5 articles. Article submitted on Friday 04th December 2009. Word count: 813

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Source: http://www.thesolarpowerstation.info/2011/10/luxury-and-style-beauty-collection/

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Thursday, October 6, 2011

Things to Consider When Setting Personal Development Goals

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By: Joshuan Mcintayarz

Personal development is usually a broad topic a large number of people are serious about but they don't know where to start. There could possibly be many issues with your personality and lifestyle that you might want to work on, but achieving a lot of things can sound overwhelming at first.

The key to keeping self improvement goals from becoming too overwhelming should be to have reasonable expectations also to set yourself up to have success.

Setting Reasonable Personal Goals

Section of setting yourself around succeed is to set goals that come attainable. A mission to lose 50 pounds a single month or to work 18 hours each day isn't a reasonable one, and setting this kind of goal can result in an unnecessary failure. Instead, choose stuff that can be attained with all the skills you have now.

The Timeliness of private Development Goals

Set goals which can be accomplished now to stop the "later" syndrome. When you set an objective that you will build something utilizing a certain form of equipment that you do not yet have, desire to is not one that can be accomplished now. The aim can effectively go off forever, as well as for some people, it's going to be.

Instead, choose goals that can not be set aside for later with easy excuses. Make personal development goals you can start today. This will allow you to accomplish enough to give you the confidence to set more goals for your personal and career life.

Setting Small Goals makes perfect

Large, overwhelming goals is really so intimidating that a great many people postpone making them in any respect. Building a multi-million-dollar company is an enormous goal, but it's one that can take years to fully realize. It also seems very difficult at first to ever accomplish this kind of lofty outcome. But, with several smaller goals, it is usually reached in a goal process.

The very first goal in building this sort of large business might be to develop your own business plan. The second goal can be to find the first customer. The third goal might be to turn money. As time goes on, the goals mature and bigger until the business is a considerable one that reaches your initial goal idea of being a multi-million-dollar company.

Smaller goals are of help in pursuing any self improvement goal that you may have. They are particularly crucial when the original goal was so big so it was avoided because doing so felt unreasonable. Large goals tend to be put off for months or maybe years because they seem so hard to accomplish. With smaller goals that may be accomplished in a matter or days or perhaps weeks, there will be no reason to put off accomplishing it.

Author Resource:->??For additional news do find personal development plan and personal development goals.

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Source: http://www.activeweblist.com/Art/211438/136/Things-to-Consider-When-Setting-Personal-Development-Goals.html

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Philippine police capture suspected beheader (AP)

MANILA, Philippines ? Philippine police have arrested an Abu Sayyaf gunman who allegedly helped behead seven Filipino workers while singing a militant song in a grisly 2007 crime, officials said Wednesday.

Police said Adzhar Mawalil was captured Tuesday by government forces on southern Jolo island.

Mawalil, 32, has also been implicated in the 2000 kidnappings of 21 mostly European tourists from a dive resort in neighboring Malaysia and the 2009 abductions of three Filipino, Italian and Swiss aid workers for the International Committee of the Red Cross in Jolo, national police spokesman Agrimero Cruz said.

All the captives from the Malaysian resort and the Red Cross were eventually freed, reportedly after large ransom payments.

Mawalil appeared in a video circulated by Abu Sayyaf militants showing them beheading six road project workers and a factory worker while singing a song in a Jolo jungle in 2007. The video helped authorities identify and capture Mawalil in Sulu province's Jolo town, two security officials said.

The two officials, who help oversee assaults against the Abu Sayyaf, spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to talk to the media.

The seven workers were killed by the Abu Sayyaf after the construction company refused to pay a ransom demanded by the militants, officials said at the time. Their heads were dumped by the militants near the gates of a Jolo army detachment to mock government troops.

The Abu Sayyaf, which is listed by Washington as an al-Qaida-linked terrorist organization, has been blamed for deadly bombings, abductions and beheadings. It has been the target of a decade-long U.S.-backed Philippine military offensive on Jolo and the nearby island province of Basilan.

Army scout rangers battled about 50 heavily armed Abu Sayyaf members Wednesday in a forest near Basilan's Al Barka town in fierce fighting that killed a soldier and wounded two others. Several militants were believed wounded but were dragged away by their companions, who retreated after three hours, army spokesman Maj. Harold Cabunoc said.

Reinforcement troops were pursuing the militants, Cabunoc said.

Nearly 400 Abu Sayyaf gunmen remain at large in the jungles of Jolo, an impoverished Muslim region about 590 miles (950 kilometers) south of Manila, and in Basilan and outlying islands. Washington has offered large rewards for the capture of the Abu Sayyaf's remaining top commanders.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111005/ap_on_re_as/as_philippines_abu_sayyaf

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Window Closing on Home Energy Efficiency Tax Credit | Sierra Club ...

Picture 1 of 6

Windows, skylights, and exterior doors that meet ENERGY STAR criteria are eligible for a tax credit. (Courtesy of Simonton Windows.)


Editor?s Note: October is National Energy Awareness Month. Take a look at your home?s energy use and how you can take advantage of incentives for efficiency.

By Robbie Harris

You may have gotten the mailers or seen some items in stores marked ?Eligible for the Energy Efficiency Tax Credit!? Maybe you bought that new storm door, window, or even the entire energy-efficient heating and cooling system qualified for the credit. Then, if you noted it on your federal income tax return, you got some money back?the government?s way of thanking you for doing the right thing for your home and the planet.

?The goal overall was to encourage people to make that extra jump to the energy efficient product,? said Thomas Simchak, a senior research associate at the Alliance to Save Energy in Washington, D.C. ?If they were going to be installing an air conditioner, [the tax credit was intended to] have a value that would compensate for the price difference for the energy efficient unit.?

Blink and You May Miss It

The federal tax credit for existing homes has been available to homeowners for their primary dwelling?albeit in changing amounts?for most of the last six years. You still have time to get in on the tax incentives, but there are costs to putting off those household improvements. These federal incentives will be gone entirely by the end of 2011. Qualified items must be installed and placed into service before the end of the year to get you money back on your federal tax return.

Even if you upgraded to energy-efficient products, you may be among the many Americans who left money on the table. A survey out this week finds ?[m]ost American consumers aren?t at all aware of the tax advantages of upgrading to energy efficient products.? Karl Zellmer, vice president of air conditioning sales at Emerson Climate Technologies, guided a Harris Poll commissioned by the manufacturing company. The poll found that ?71 percent of consumers did not take advantage of any rebates, tax holidays, or other incentives? and that 61 percent did not even know these potential money savers existed.

?The survey did show that a majority of folks have gone to [compact] fluorescent bulbs to reduce energy consumption, and that does help,? Zellmer says. ?They may do that because of the four or five dollars extra for the cost of the light bulb and they get beat up with that information everywhere they go.?

But when it comes to the details about state, local, and federal incentives, Zellmer says the study clearly shows that consumers are not getting the information they would need to calculate the costs and the paybacks of more-substantial purchases.

Like the weather, the federal government?s home energy efficiency tax incentives have been, well, changeable. The tax credit came in as part of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 signed by President George W. Bush and began as a 10-percent credit on certain items. It disappeared for a year in 2008. After returning in 2009, it reached its highest level?30 percent?under the Economic Recovery act, signed by President Barack Obama in February 2010. Then, almost before you could grab the low-hanging fruit of the tax credit tree, it was cut back to 10 percent for 2011. This most recent change also came with lower thresholds for rebates and more restrictions; there is now a $500 cap on tax credits a homeowner can use. Blogger Darwin Prince says the smaller tax credit and lower threshold for cash back made the tax credits less attractive to consumers, and less effective overall.

?When the window tax credit was up to $1,500, for instance, that was a substantial tax credit, which rightfully incentivized many homeowners to get around to installing new windows, making their homes more efficient and pumping probably $5,000 to $15,000 into the economy, depending on the extent of their upgrade,? says Prince on his blog Darwin?s Money. ?The dual benefit was lower energy consumption into the future while providing manufacturers and installers with much needed revenues.?

At The Door Store, in Glenview, Illinois, where some doors? prices run into the thousands, the 30-percent tax credit was extremely attractive to buyers. Owner Chris Erickson said, as that year drew to an end, ?People were actually offering to pay extra as an incentive to get their door installed before the deadline.? However, the store did not accept the extra money and could not accommodate all requests.

There is no way to know exactly how many homeowners took advantage of the federal tax credit in its various incarnations. The U.S. Internal Revenue Service does not publish that information. A report by the Government Accounting Office is expected to be published in the near future.

?Anecdotally, talking to contractors and vendors, the home improvement stores and window installers definitely saw this as a big selling point,? says Simchak, senior research associate at the Alliance to Save Energy.

If some merchants say the tax credit helped sales, and consumers who might have taken advantage of the tax credit say they were unaware of them, why not continue or even increase the tax incentives for home energy efficiency? Simchak, who is an energy efficiency advocate, believes the issue got buried.

?I think it?s largely a victim of congressional deadlocks more broadly,? Simchak says. ?There is not a lot moving in congress right now and other items were seen as ?must pass,? while the energy tax credits were not.?? He adds that, even though they are going away soon, this ?may not be the last we?ve heard of these tax credits. [But] we?re not optimistic they?ll be extended before the end of the year.?

Similar tax credits for commercial buildings, however, will remain in effect until 2014.

A Window Closes, a Door Opens

Even if these particular federal tax incentives for home energy efficiency do not come back any time soon, other options remain for capitalizing on your energy efficiency purchases. Similar state initiatives are unaffected by the closing of the federal window at the end of this year. You can check your state?s programs at http://dsireusa.org/.

Emerson Climate Technologies has just unveiled a new smart phone app that allows you to compute the true costs of products by energy use calculated using rates in your area. Zellmer says the new smart phone application will help consumers research purchasing options ahead of time, instead of waiting until the air conditioner stops working on a 90-plus-degree day and running out to buy anything to cool off. His survey found that consumers are aware that heating and cooling are their highest energy costs, but the majority were not willing to spend more for energy efficiency upgrades unless the payback time was relatively short. According to the poll, 67 percent of respondents said they would be willing to invest up to $5,000 in a home energy upgrade, but only if it paid for itself within six months. Only 29 percent of those surveyed said they would be willing to invest that amount if the payback were 10 years.

Now that the sun is setting on this particular tax credit, there will be an opportunity to assess its effects.? After all, if a tax incentive is successful, it should go away once the behavior it aims to encourage is widely adopted. Simchak suggests that if a large number of homeowners believe upgrading their homes for energy efficiency is the right thing to do, they will do so, cash back or not.

?These tax credits got a lot of people thinking about energy efficiency, even if they didn?t actually go out there and use the credit,? Simchak. ?People started hearing about energy efficiency on the news, and the media picked this up as a way to get yourselves $500 or $1,000. People say, ?Oh, energy efficiency, yeah, I guess my kitchen door is pretty drafty, and I feel that chill on my feet in the morning, and yes, that does affect my bills, and they have been going up,? so it gets people thinking that this is important to them.?

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For related content on home health, see?http://www.sierraclubgreenhome.com/home-health/.

Robbie Harris is a writer, editor and producer in Chicago at Lucid Dream Productions.

? 2011 SCGH, LLC.


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