Thinking of sprucing up the old homestead to make it a little more energy-efficient and maybe save some money on utility bills?

Um, you may want to wait a few months. The good news is that Congress wants to help you pay for some of those upgrades. The bad news is that the help isn't all that much and it isn't coming right away.

The huge energy bill that President Bush signed last week includes about $14.5 billion in energy "incentives," many of them for businesses but some for homeowners and car buyers. The new benefits are mostly tax credits, meaning they reduce your tax bill dollar for dollar. Many are available only for items bought or placed in service after Jan. 1, 2006.

Maybe that isn't such a bad idea, though. It will give suppliers and builders time to figure out what the best combination of benefits might be.

For homeowners, there are two key provisions.

The first allows a 10 percent tax credit for improvements to the energy efficiency of existing homes, up to a lifetime maximum of $500 a taxpayer. The credit applies to items placed in service in 2006 and 2007 only.

The second offers a 30 percent credit for the purchase of certain kinds of solar-powered water-heating systems, photovoltaic equipment (which converts sunlight to electricity) and fuel-cell systems. The maximum credit is $2,000 for solar systems and $500 for each kilowatt of fuel-cell capacity. This one also applies only to items placed in service in 2006 and 2007.