Have I been spoiled by the Internet?

Did you know you can get up to a $500 tax credit for 2006 if you replace your furnace before the end of December? Neither did I until I read it in the Boston Globe after my husband and I purchased a new oil boiler and water heater to replace our aging system.

To qualify for the tax credit, the new boiler and water heater have to meet specific energy ratings criteria.

“That’s easy,” I thought. “I’ll look them up online.” (Our system hasn’t been delivered yet so I can’t get the info from the yellow energy rating tags — and if the system doesn’t conform, heck, I’ll upgrade.)

HA! What a fruitless hour of searching that was. The manufacturers’ sites don’t list energy ratings (which they should because this tax credit thing is important).

And even worse, I couldn’t even find the system I purchased at Home Depot on the Home Depot Website — despite typing in the SKU, the manufacturers’ names, and the product category.

Yoo-hoooo guys! It’s in your best interest to put your energy ratings on your sites and make it easy to download the certifications required for the tax credit.

Something simple like, “This system meets the government Energy Star rating for IRS energy tax credit — download your certification here.”

Imagine how many systems you could potentially sell — and how many customers would leave your sites happy!