Buy new appliance now, and it will pay
By Sandy Bauers
The Philadelphia Inquirer, March 22, 2010
Fridge on the fritz? Washer on its last wobbly legs?
Or maybe they're just old energy hogs that should be laid to rest.
Now's the time. Uncle Sam and others are all but lining up to pay you to do it.
The only problem with the bonanza is that you almost need a Ph.D. researcher - or at least a computer-savvy teen - to sort out the deals.
How much money you can get back hinges on which state you live in, which company provides your electricity, which appliance you're interested in, and whether the store itself is having a sale.
You may even be able to score more than one rebate for the same appliance.
So start your homework. It might take a while.
Appliances certainly make our lives easier. The trouble is that they suck away at the energy grid - and your wallet - like greedy parasites. Especially the older ones, manufactured before energy efficiency improvements.
On average, your dishwasher, fridge, freezer, washer and dryer use 18 percent of household energy, says the Electric Power Research Institute.
With the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, a gusher of money went to states for the appliance version of Cash for Clunkers.
New Jersey, which is doling out $8.3 million in ARRA funds, has been offering rebates on heating and water heater products.
Beginning April 1 - with final details expected today - the state will move into "upstairs" appliances with $25 to $100 rebates for clothes washers, dishwashers and refrigerators that meet specific Energy Star standards.
Energy Star is a federal program that rates appliances and other goods according to their energy efficiency.
Meanwhile, New Jersey's Clean Energy program has its own rebates for clothes washers, dehumidifiers and room air-conditioners.
Pennsylvania, with $11.9 million in ARRA funds, is still tweaking the details - not to mention the launch date - but Department of Environmental Protection spokesman John Repetz said the plan is to offer rebates for water heaters and non-electric furnaces, likely $100 to $500.
Officials took the heater route because many residents are already eligible for appliance rebates through their utility companies, including Peco and PPL.
State law requires the utilities to reduce energy use 1 percent by mid-2011 and 3 percent by mid-2013; getting old appliances off the grid is one way to do it.
Peco is offering nearly two dozen energy efficiency rebates - $25 to $300 for a hot water heater, depending on the size and type, $75 for a freezer, $90 for a whole house fan, 17 cents a square foot for a white roof, and so on.
PPL is offering $10 to $75 for various appliances and is rolling out rebates on office equipment, such as copiers.
Many appliance retailers are stepping into the morass of details, offering their own guides for how to get the most out of a purchase.
Sears, for instance, runs a Web site that tracks various programs as new deals emerge. For people who do not have Internet access, Sears has store computers to look up deals and print out rebate forms.
"It's a great time to buy," says Sears' lead appliance executive, Doug Moore. By piggybacking deals, "customers are in some cases seeing a $550 item net down to $200."
In New Jersey, stores are teaming up with the state Board of Public Utilities to offer instant rebates instead of making customers fill out forms.
Which prompts another word of caution: Most programs last only until the money is spent. New Jersey figures its ARRA appliance rebate funds will be exhausted in a month. Pennsylvania utilities think their programs will continue a year or more.
As much as this will aid your pocketbook, will it help the environment, which, in addition to stimulating the economy, is the whole point?
Two University of Delaware professors, Burton Abrams and George Parsons, doubt it.
Among several flaws, they noted in a recent report, the federal program does not require old appliance recycling.
So if older, less-efficient refrigerators aren't taken off the grid, but just moved to the basement as beer reservoirs, overall power consumption will increase.
To thwart that possibility, Peco and PPL will pay you $35 to let them take away your old fridge or freezer, and while they're there, $25 for a room air-conditioner.
New Jerseyans make out better: The state will pay $50 for the old fridge or freezer.
If only I could get that kind of deal on my old stereo.
GreenSpace: Where to Get Appliance Help
Department of Energy site on rebate programs and how to do a home energy audit: www.energysavers.gov.
Energy Star Web site for appliance ratings and how to figure out if a new refrigerator will save you money: www.Energystar.gov. Click on "Find Energy Star products," then "refrigerators," then "refrigerator retirement savings calculator." Come with the size or model number of your current unit.
For updates on Pennsylvania's rollout of the federal Cash for Clunkers appliance program: www.depweb.state.pa.us. Click on "energy rebate$" on the right.
For updates on New Jersey programs: www.njcleanenergy.com. (Click on "new appliance rebates.")
Peco's rebate site: www.pecosmartideas.com.
PPL's rebate site: www.pplelectric.com/e-power.
For Sears deals, www.sears.com/energystar.
- Sandy Bauers
Or maybe they're just old energy hogs that should be laid to rest.
Now's the time. Uncle Sam and others are all but lining up to pay you to do it.
The only problem with the bonanza is that you almost need a Ph.D. researcher - or at least a computer-savvy teen - to sort out the deals.
How much money you can get back hinges on which state you live in, which company provides your electricity, which appliance you're interested in, and whether the store itself is having a sale.
You may even be able to score more than one rebate for the same appliance.
So start your homework. It might take a while.
Appliances certainly make our lives easier. The trouble is that they suck away at the energy grid - and your wallet - like greedy parasites. Especially the older ones, manufactured before energy efficiency improvements.
On average, your dishwasher, fridge, freezer, washer and dryer use 18 percent of household energy, says the Electric Power Research Institute.
With the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, a gusher of money went to states for the appliance version of Cash for Clunkers.
New Jersey, which is doling out $8.3 million in ARRA funds, has been offering rebates on heating and water heater products.
Beginning April 1 - with final details expected today - the state will move into "upstairs" appliances with $25 to $100 rebates for clothes washers, dishwashers and refrigerators that meet specific Energy Star standards.
Energy Star is a federal program that rates appliances and other goods according to their energy efficiency.
Meanwhile, New Jersey's Clean Energy program has its own rebates for clothes washers, dehumidifiers and room air-conditioners.
Pennsylvania, with $11.9 million in ARRA funds, is still tweaking the details - not to mention the launch date - but Department of Environmental Protection spokesman John Repetz said the plan is to offer rebates for water heaters and non-electric furnaces, likely $100 to $500.
Officials took the heater route because many residents are already eligible for appliance rebates through their utility companies, including Peco and PPL.
State law requires the utilities to reduce energy use 1 percent by mid-2011 and 3 percent by mid-2013; getting old appliances off the grid is one way to do it.
Peco is offering nearly two dozen energy efficiency rebates - $25 to $300 for a hot water heater, depending on the size and type, $75 for a freezer, $90 for a whole house fan, 17 cents a square foot for a white roof, and so on.
PPL is offering $10 to $75 for various appliances and is rolling out rebates on office equipment, such as copiers.
Many appliance retailers are stepping into the morass of details, offering their own guides for how to get the most out of a purchase.
Sears, for instance, runs a Web site that tracks various programs as new deals emerge. For people who do not have Internet access, Sears has store computers to look up deals and print out rebate forms.
"It's a great time to buy," says Sears' lead appliance executive, Doug Moore. By piggybacking deals, "customers are in some cases seeing a $550 item net down to $200."
In New Jersey, stores are teaming up with the state Board of Public Utilities to offer instant rebates instead of making customers fill out forms.
Which prompts another word of caution: Most programs last only until the money is spent. New Jersey figures its ARRA appliance rebate funds will be exhausted in a month. Pennsylvania utilities think their programs will continue a year or more.
As much as this will aid your pocketbook, will it help the environment, which, in addition to stimulating the economy, is the whole point?
Two University of Delaware professors, Burton Abrams and George Parsons, doubt it.
Among several flaws, they noted in a recent report, the federal program does not require old appliance recycling.
So if older, less-efficient refrigerators aren't taken off the grid, but just moved to the basement as beer reservoirs, overall power consumption will increase.
To thwart that possibility, Peco and PPL will pay you $35 to let them take away your old fridge or freezer, and while they're there, $25 for a room air-conditioner.
New Jerseyans make out better: The state will pay $50 for the old fridge or freezer.
If only I could get that kind of deal on my old stereo.
GreenSpace: Where to Get Appliance Help
Department of Energy site on rebate programs and how to do a home energy audit: www.energysavers.gov.
Energy Star Web site for appliance ratings and how to figure out if a new refrigerator will save you money: www.Energystar.gov. Click on "Find Energy Star products," then "refrigerators," then "refrigerator retirement savings calculator." Come with the size or model number of your current unit.
For updates on Pennsylvania's rollout of the federal Cash for Clunkers appliance program: www.depweb.state.pa.us. Click on "energy rebate$" on the right.
For updates on New Jersey programs: www.njcleanenergy.com. (Click on "new appliance rebates.")
Peco's rebate site: www.pecosmartideas.com.
PPL's rebate site: www.pplelectric.com/e-power.
For Sears deals, www.sears.com/energystar.
- Sandy Bauers