ENERGY STAR Appliance Rebate

This $50 to $250 rebate for qualifying appliances closed in late 2011

The US Department of Energy announced an ENERGY STAR appliance rebate program in July 2009, setting aside nearly $300 million in Federal stimulus funds to cover consumer reboates on certain high-efficiency home appliances.

"Appliances consume a huge amount of our electricity, so there's enormous potential to both save energy and save families money every month," Energy Secretary Steven Chu said.

Individual states were asked to provide proposals for their own programs funded by this Federal program, and most states came up with programs that offered an ENERGY STAR appliance rebate on household appliances such as refrigerators, freezers, hot water heaters, and HVAC equipment.

Funds for the program were exhausted in late 2011 and all state rebates based on this program have now ended. There are still some federal incentives in the form of tax credits in the US to cover the purchase of highly efficient air conditioning systems, furnaces, heat pumps, geothermal heat pumps, insulation, and high-efficiency roofing, but these credits are limited to $500 per taxpayer and may not be claimed for 2011/2012 if they were claimed in a previous tax year.

You'll still benefit from buying an ENERGY STAR rated appliance, compared to an equivalent appliance that is not ENERGY STAR rated. Depending on the type of appliance, the ENERGY STAR appliance must typically be 10% more efficient than the minimal standard for that appliance type, although sometimes the type or size of unit you choose has more impact on your energy savings than whether or not you go for an ENERGY STAR appliance. So you will at the very least save money on your home energy bills; but the typically higher cost of the ENERGY STAR appliance can only be earned back by its more efficient use, or by occasional rebates offered by local governments or your utility - there no longer appear to be any Federal or State rebates available.

Before buying an ENERGY STAR rated appliance, you may want to know more about how to select the most efficient and suitable appliance to meet your needs. See the following articles on Green Energy Efficient Homes on specific appliances:

Other ENERGY STAR appliance rebates

While the federally funded ENERGY STAR appliance rebate has now ended and a search of rebate programs for the most populated US states doesn't currently show up any rebate programs for appliances, you may still be able to get at least a small portion of your investment in ENERGY STAR appliances covered by the manufacturer, your local utility, or your municipal government.

With the current tight fiscal situation in most state governments it is unlikely we will see another program like the 2010 ENERGY STAR appliance rebate program that helped millions of American homeowners upgrade their appliances.

Here's a list of the ENERGY STAR appliance rebate programs that were in effect or were proposed at the time I originally wrote this article - just in case you're doing historical research!

California was allocated $35 million of the $300 million ENERGY STAR appliance rebate funds, and planned to provide rebates on clothes washers ($100), refrigerators ($75), and room air conditioners ($50).

Ohio offered up to 90,000 ENERGY STAR appliance rebate payouts to residents who bought ENERGY STAR qualified refrigerators, dishwashers, clothes washers, and water heaters. No trade-in was required, and rebates were awarded on a first-come, first-served basis until allocated funds were exhausted.

New York received $18.7 million in rebate financing. It provided $75 rebates for ENERGY STAR refrigerators ($105 if an old refrigerator is recycled); $75 rebates for ENERGY STAR clothes washers ($100 if an old washer is recycled); and $50 for ENERGY STAR freezers ($75 with documented recycling of an old freezer). ENERGY STAR Dishwashers were eligible if purchased as part of a three-appliance set: a $500 rebate (or $550 with documented recycling of all three old appliances) for people who bought an ENERGY STAR refrigerator, clothes washer, and dishwasher all at once.

Texas received $23 million for its ENERGY STAR appliance rebates. The Texas rebates were among the most exhaustive and generous, with an extra $75 recycling rebate bonus for recycling an old appliance of the same type as the new appliance purchased. Rebates included:

$240 for ENERGY STARrefrigerators
$180 for ENERGY STAR freezers
$45 for room air conditioners
$150-180 for ENERGY STAR clothes washers
$110-140 rebate for dishwashers
$600/800/1000 for central air conditioners, depending on efficiency
$1200/1600 for heat pumps
$255-640 for hot water heaters

Florida: The appliance rebate program for Florida was done on a mail-in basis and was set at 20% of the appliance purchase price. Consumers could also get an additional rebate if recycling an old appliance. The program was very brief, starting early in April 2010, with its funds exhausted soon after. Eligible products included ENERGY STAR qualified refrigerators, freezers, clothes washers, dishwashers, room air conditioners, and gas tankless water heaters.

Illinois received $12 million in Federal rebate funds. The state rebate program was planned to start on Earth Day 2010 (April 22, 2010) and end only a few weeks later given the scant funding. Rebates were to be in the form of discounts off purchase price for all ENERGY STAR qualified refrigerators, freezers, washing machines, dishwashers, and room air conditioners. There was an additional recycling rebate of $50-100 for people who recycled an old appliance that was replaced with a new ENERGY STAR purchase.

Pennsylvania: The State of Pennsylvania qualified for nearly $12 million in DOE funding for their ENERGY STAR appliance rebate program and their focus seemed to be on mail in rebates for purchases of ENERGY STAR qualified gas storage or tankless water heaters, oil or gas furnaces, and oil or gas boilers.

Michigan had an ambitious plan that not only provided ENERGY STAR appliance rebates but in some cases offered higher rebates for appliances that were above the ENERGY STAR standard for their class, including:

ENERGY STAR and CEE Tier 2 dishwashers
ENERGY STAR and CEE Tier 3 refrigerators
ENERGY STAR oil furnaces
ENERGY STAR Plus propane furnaces (AFUE 95%)
ENERGY STAR propane hot water heaters (EF>=.67)
ENERGY STAR solar hot water heaters

Rebates were in the $50-100 range for most appliances, with up to $300 for oil or propane furnaces and up to $1200 (20% of cost) for solar hot water heaters. Only purchases that included recycling of a previous equivalent appliance qualified, and for refrigerators, written documentation from a recycling facility was needed.

Georgia residents were offered ENERGY STAR appliance rebates of up to $1200, including up to $199 for a hot water heater, and $50 for an ENERGY STAR refrigerator. The rebate was provided as a Visa prepaid mail card (like a credit card, already loaded up with cash). Rebates covered a wide range of appliances, with rebates in the $25-100 range for fridges, freezers, washers, dishwashers, furnaces, central air, and gas storage water heaters, with rebates of up to $199 for solar or heat pump water heaters, tankless gas water heaters, and some heating equipment.

North Carolina staged its $8 million ENERGY STAR appliance rebate program, starting with a 15% rebate on qualified Energy Star household appliances (clothes washers, dishwashers, refrigerators, and freezers) during Earth Day 2010, and ending in June 2010 with rebates for gas storage water heaters, tankless gas water heaters, central air conditioners, heat pumps and gas furnaces that would match similar rebates offered through electric and gas utility programs.

Virginia passed its ENERGY STAR appliance rebate funds on to electric, gas and water utilities and suppliers to supplement existing or new appliance rebate programs operated by the utilities. ENERGY STAR-rated appliances that were eligible for a rebate included clothes washers, dishwashers, refrigerators, freezers, room air conditioners, water heaters (gas, electric, solar, tankless), central air conditioners, heat pumps, oil/gas furnaces, and oil/gas boilers.

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