poorowner the "circulating fan" they speak of is a high efficient or variable speed fan/blower not a whole house fan. I suggest you check the attached link. good luck! Here is a link that might be useful: Energy Star Gov Site

I have a proposal to replace my heating and air conditioning system that is 22 years old. I live in Fairfax, VA in a 2,300 sq. ft two story center hall colonial house with a brick and clapboard exterior, 4 bedrooms, 2 ý baths, and þ finished basement. The proposal includes an AHRI certificate qualifying the system for the Federal tax credit that I downloaded from its site and has the following information on it: Split system: Air-cooled condensing unit, coil with blower Outdoor model #: 4TTX6048E1 (Trane XL 16i) Furnace model #: TUD120R9V5 (Trane XV 80) Indoor model #: C(A,C,D,E)60D44+TDR (Aspen) Cooling capacity: 48,000 EER Rating (cooling): 13.00 SEER Rating (cooling): 16.50 The system and installation includes a TCONT802 thermostat, new equipment pad, removal of existing system, refrigerant evacuation and recovery, and set up of new system. No duct work. The existing electronic air cleaner and humidifier will be retained and used with the new system. Is this system a good fit and is it priced fairly? The installer has been our HVAC servicer since moving into the house 20 years ago, and is top rated for both quality and price by the Washington ConsumerâÂÂs Checkbook magazine. IâÂÂm assuming that this system will qualify for the maximum tax credit of $1,500. Can anyone confirm? Thanks.

It's very likely that at this point you won't have time to order the doors and have them installed before Dec. 31, 2010. The tax credit criteria was very poorly designed. There should have been no SHG max in the Northern States and they should have allowed a U-factor as high as .35. In the South the SHG and U-factor should have been lower. The idea behind the tax credits was to lower the cost differential between very high performing windows and average performing, to encourage consumers to purchase the better performing windows. It became as simple as window manufacturers using a different piece of glass, that was designed for warmer climates, on all their windows. To answer your question, if you want the tax credit, you will have to buy a door that complies. I have never heard of a manufacturer charging less for LoE glass. I would check that out with another dealer of that brand of door. Sounds to me like they are trying to jack up the price unfairly. If you decide to go with them and also want the tax credit, I would ask for the highest solar gain available. Keep in mind that although you will likely reduce the solar gain in the winter, you are also reducing convection and conduction.

Article today in our local paper: Solar homeowners win big in California ruling, for now SF Chronicle, January 28, 2016 http://www.sfgate.com/business/article/Solar-companies-and-customers-win-big-in-6790872.php .....Congress in December [2015] unexpectedly renewed a 30 percent tax credit for solar installations. ++++++++++ Of note for CA residents only: There are major changes to the rate agreements between the CA utilities and solar customers. There is now a substantial difference between the old 'net energy metering' (popularly known as "net zero") for existing customers along with any new installations that make it under the '5% cap' [see article link], which PG&E/Northern CA estimates will be reached by their customer base roughly around Sept 2016. After that, ALL solar installations will be under the new agreement, which are less financially attractive. This is especially true because new solar customers will be under the "time of use" rates, where different rates are charged at different times of the day. The CA PUC will revisit the issue in 2019, so even existing customers should continue to monitor this issue. It is not a given that existing solar users under the 5% cap will always be able to keep that 20-yr extension of being compensated at retail electricity rates for the excess energy they send back to the grid.