OK, so how are you fixed for a new refrigerator? Or maybe a new dishwasher or heat pump?Brace yourself. A federal "cash for appliances" program is likely on its way to a store near you before the end of the year.
Comparatively unnoticed in the economic stimulus package approved by Congress earlier this year was a $300 million program offering rebates to buyers of more energy-efficient appliances and other products with the Energy Star label.
The Energy Star conservation program was created in 1992 by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and evolved into an international standard for energy-efficient consumer products. Products with the Energy Star seal -- they can range from a building to central air conditioners to computers -- typically are 10 percent to 30 percent more energy efficient than comparable products.
Just like the recently completed Cash for Clunkers program, the more modest cash for appliances program is designed to boost the U.S. economy through consumer spending and take less energy-efficient products out of circulation.
Yet, it differs from Cash for Clunkers on key points. The individual states will run their own appliance rebate programs, and consumers will not have to haul their bulky appliances to a store in exchange for new ones.
State and federal officials, including those at the Department of Energy, which is overseeing appliance rebate funds, stressed last week that they're still working on the details. States and some U.S. territories have until Oct. 15 to present DOE with a plan for how they want to implement their cash for appliances programs.
That's one of the concerns.
Different states will likely propose varying products that qualify for varying rebate amounts, expected to range from $50 to $200.
Yet DOE insisted that states do the tailoring of programs for their jurisdictions.
"The Department of Energy has a lot of confidence that the states will implement it effectively," said DOE spokeswoman Jen Stutsman. "The rebate programs will build off existing (state and utility rebate) programs and make use of appliances in a particular climate that yield the most energy savings."