Certainly, it depends on your individual circumstances.
..BUT the fact you get a refund every year isn't critical...what matters is if you get ALL your prior withholding returned every year. i.e. if you have (say) $5000 of federal total withholding from your pay, and you normally get $1000 refunded.....that means you still let the Feds keep $4000 of the total you prepaid thru withholding......the (30% of cost up-to $600) credit is used against those $4000 that remain, so you'd get $600 more refunded. However, if you always get ALL your withholding back without that credit, then you don't get any more.
It's called a non-refundable credit for situations where a person normally didn't really have to pay anything (or owe anything) in the first place.
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Beyond that, it still may be worth it. In the years beyond where I went from a SEER 10, OEM AC unit to a SEER 16 SEER scroll compressor, my summer electric usage dropped ~33% (monthly ~900 kwh to 600kwh) AND I was using 2degrees lower daily setting too. Not only that, but the scroll compressor was far quieter too...such that I could actually have conversations with family on my patio when it was running.
____________*Answers are correct to the best of my knowledge when posted, but should not be considered to be legal or official tax advice.*
