Good and bad news, I guess. The bad news is that my dishwasher and washing machine just went out at the same time! The good news is that it's an excuse to buy new, energy-efficient appliances to replace them, which should help me in my quest for solar panel self-sufficiency in a few years. Anyway, what I'm wondering is if anyone knows if there are any tax incentives for buying "green" appliances.
Maybe,,,try googling 'energy star appliance rebates" that should send you to a link. As for energy efficient washing machines. Do a lot of research. Front load horizontal axis washers are all the rage, but from my experience they are fraught with problems. Noise, vibration, expensive service etc. I suggest that you look at Staber washing machines. They are often found on solar and RE web sites. Very efficient, brick s*@t house machines. Not cheap but from what I hear, well worth the money. Consider not just the up front cost, but the life cycle cost. Icarus
Hey Bum! Check Colorado rebates and tax breaks. Many states have rebates off your state taxes even if there is no federal rebate/break. Ask your electric company, they'll have info on any discounts or rebates they offer.
as an appleance salesperson at the "largest home improvement" store in the us (you can do it we can help). we often run sales on enrgy efficient appliances. if you see the "energy star" on the yellow tag which is required by fedral law to be on certain appliances it is approximately 15 percent more efficient than the standards set by the govt. ive sold zillions of top loads and front loads. this is my experience. toploads in general ( there are a couple of notable exceptions) are MUCH less efficient than front loaders. it is true that if you put a front loader on a floor that is not real strong or is not a bottom floor it will shake. its not the "godzilla" walk that top loaders out of balance can do but a much morre intense shake because its spinning often times at over 1000 rpm!.the advantages for green folks are that they use much less electricity and save approximately 60percent in water. you absolutely should use "he" detergent high efficiency. can get from tide at your krogers. yes, you clothes WILL last longer colors stay brighter and be cleaner. for dishwashers the main thing for me is to make sure it ha a top wash arm as well as a bottom one. yikes!! i do go on dont i ! sorry. i was just inspired by the question. one sale we had was 10 percent off for energy efficiency. 10percent for purchase over $299 AND the manufacturer had $100 rebate. that was hot.
Bum, Lemme know what you find. We may be in the market for a new fridge soon. Ours is pretty old and judging from my kill-o-watt readings over the last 4 days, it uses about 3 kWh/day. I'd like to get that number down. Some months our fridge accounts for 30% of our monthly electricity bill!!
We bought 2 energy-star appliances last year: fridge (whirlpool) and dishwasher (Frigidaire). No Fed tax credit per our tax person. She said only tankless water heaters have some sort of credit to claim. YMMV. We bought energy-star washer/dryer 3 years ago, after our 1st Prius. Only the Prius had a Fed tax credit.
There is a federal incentive and sometimes a state incentive but it gets pretty specific and won't last forever. The federal incentive effects the federal return and the state incentive goes towards the state return. The incentive is treated much like capital improvements were treated a few years back -- they were an immediate improvement on the house and were deductible during the tax year they were done. Now, capital improvements are only used to compute your adjusted cost basis -- in other words, you can deduct the cost of the improvements from the profit Uncle Sam will tax you on. Capital improvements are still important (so save those receipts) if you will ever sell your home but the Energy Star appliances and some other improvements like super-efficient windows can make a difference during the tax year they were bought. OK. The federal incentive ended 1 JAN 08 but you have until 15 April to file for the incentive. There were many improvements listed but the closest thing to an appliance was a heating system. Federal Tax Credits for Energy Efficiency : ENERGY STAR It would still be smart to check what your state offers.
FWIW, this was in the newsletter that I recently received my accountant: Energy Saving Home Improvements A tax credit of up to 10% of the cost of energy savings improvements made to your primary residence is available under the Energy Policy Act of 2005. Qualifying improvements include insulation, installation of energy efficient windows, or high efficiency heating and air conditioning. 2008 is the last year the credit will be available. The maximum credit is $500.00.
It looks like Jack is right, and ny biker has a reference to the old laws. You do get a federal credit for some energy improvements (like installing double-pane windows), but you never got credit for appliances and most of the credits for improvements to existing homes expired at the end of last year. New homes can take advantage of the credits for another year, though. Looking at all the appliances, however, it's almost hard to find one that's NOT energy star qualified. One cool thing I found out is that the city of Castle Rock may offer a $200 rebate for a front-loading washing machine that uses less water, but that probably doesn't help you much.
i would like to add one more thing about appliances. again, this is just from my experience. in this part of the country i found that if the manufactureer itself did not repair the machine (especially front load washers and dryers) that the service really got even worse due to difficulty of getting parts in a timely manner and or training that most independant repair folks seem to have in our area. ps in general you will find that the manufacturer will NOT replace your machine.
