Brown Station Road Sanitaroy Landfill Via Flickr - Steve Snodgrass

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (the Stimulus Bill, as it is commonly known) now includes consumer rebates for ENERGY STAR qualified appliances. Much like the Cash for Clunkers program, this green stimulus program will encourage consumers to trade their old, inefficient appliances in for newer, more energy-saving models. Appliances that will be included in the program are as follows:

• central air conditioners
• heat pumps (air source and geothermal)
• boilers
• furnaces (oil and gas)
• room air conditioners
• clothes washers
• dishwashers
• refrigerators/freezers
• water heaters

The program will be rolled out fully this fall (October 15, 2009) by the Obama administration and will involve $300 million that will be doled out to states that will then devise their own incentive programs for their residents. Rebates for upgrading to more efficient appliances will range anywhere between $50 and $200. It is unknown yet whether these incentives will be made available retroactively for previous purchases.

People are calling this a much-needed shot-in-the-arm for the appliance industry in the US since sales for that sector have flagged over the past year. Business Week put it this way:

The money can’t come soon enough for the home appliance industry, which is mired in an unprecedented sales slump that began when the housing market cooled in 2006. Since then that slump has worsened considerably. Shipments of washers, dryers, refrigerators, and ovens dropped 10% in 2008 and are down 15% through July, according to the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers.

According to the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers, if every California household upgraded to ENERGY STAR appliances with the rebate program, it would result in utility savings upwards of $1.2 billion annually.

WEEE Man in Cornwall Via Flickr - law_keven

Appliance Recycling in Leiston Via Flickr - Adam Tinworth