On Sun, 03 Jul 2011 08:51:20 -0700, Dan Musicant
wrote:

I get an unsolicited call around a month ago and it's a woman who says
they are with a program that might install a heater in my house
(Berkeley, CA). She didn't say that exactly, but that's where the
conversation went because that's what I need. The heater in my almost
2000 square foot two story 101 year old house was a floor heater that's
been disconnected and in the crawl space under the house, rusting since
I moved in here in 1983. I bought the house (was renting with others
before) in 2000.

I'm very low income right now and have qualified for a few assistance
programs but when contacted in the past I didn't qualify for help
putting in a heating system because mine wasn't connected and
functioning. I explained this to the woman but she seemed to think it
didn't matter. She makes an appointment for a guy to come over and check
out the house.

The appointment was yesterday and the guy was nice as hell, worked up a
plan in a matter of 1/2 hour - 45 minutes and I asked him if I could
have a few days to make up my mind. He'd said there was a time limit and
a limit on the number of rebates that would be issued, so he'd made it
sound like I better act fast (yes, a common tactic and I don't know how
for real this was). I asked him if he could call me Tuesday afternoon or
Wednesday (today's Sunday).

Zone heating is done often in the SFBA, but you're on a tight budget
and the amount they want to charge is steep. Call Atlas for a
comparison estimate. They are an old, reliable company around here.
http://www.atlasheating.com/

Do what others have advised and check out the installation company
thoroughly. Do your homework; it's a lot of money to be spending.
http://www.trane.com/Residential/Tra...Credit-Summary
" As a part of the recently passed tax bill, Congress modified and
extended its energy efficiency tax credits for appliances, new homes
and retrofits to existing homes, which includes the 25C heating and
cooling equipment tax incentive for another year. The new bill extends
eligibility to the end of 2011, but reduces the incentive to a $500**
maximum tax credit. " Read more about what qualifies for the rebate
here - http://www.trane.com/Residential/Tra...-Stimulus-2011

--

Today's mighty oak is just yesterday's nut that held its ground.