Rebates should boost Energy Star sales - Phoenix Business Journal:

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“This rebate program will help Floridians buy appliances atdiscounyt rates, lower utility costs and benefitr Florida businesses by stimulating salezs of energy-efficient appliances,” Gov. Charlie Crist said in a press releasMay 18. Although the bill was signed last week, the projectes time for the program to be administered is probablu sometimethis fall. Consumers will not be eligible for the rebates until then because some of the detaila of the program still need to beworked out, said Jerem Susac, the executive director of Crist’s Energy The specific amounts for the rebates must be approveed by the legislative budgeyt committee, and Crist’s office is stilk waiting for guidance from the federal governmentt on how exactly the program will work, Susac The FECC is expecting Florida to receive $18 milliom in federal stimulus funds to provide the rebate In addition, the Florida leg islature is giving $150,0090 to the FECC to help them put the plan into All of this should help Floridians save 20 percent on the cost of energy-efficientr appliances.
“This is what we are projecting,” Susavc said. “We are looking at 20 percentt all acrossthe board.” With the 20 percent consumers could save $290 on refrigerators, $200 on washingy machines, freezers and dishwashers, $65 on room air conditioners and $40 on Only laundry and kitchen home appliances with the Energ y Star label will be eligible for the All Energy Star appliances meet strict energyt efficiency guidelines set by the Environmental Protectio Agency and U.S. Department of but certain items like flat screen television s arenot included, Susac said.
Even though they use the most energhy out of all thehome appliances, certain kitchenh items like microwaves, ovens and stove tops are also not includedx because they have yet to be regulatefd by Energy Star in the United States, said Michaekl Setzer, the owner of Setzer’ appliance dealer in Energy Star appliances do cost an averaged of $50 to $100 more than the standardc versions because of the advanced technologies, he said, but the rebater should lighten the costs, making it almost cheapeer to buy the Energy Star product. “Yo u don’t have to spend $1,000 to have an Energuy Star,” Setzer said. “Energy Star has cheaper modelx now.
I have a $300 dishwasher and a $800 refrigeratof in my store that are all Energy In addition, the investment will cause consumers’ utilitgy bills to go down in dollar Customers should recover their costs of the energy-efficieny appliance on their monthly bills withim five to six years. According to Energy Star’s Web their appliances can saveconsumerse $75 a year in energy costs, and they use 10 to 20 perceny less energy and water than traditional making them better for the environment.
For a front-loading Energy Star washingv machine uses 16 to 18 gallons of watedr versus thetraditional top-loading appliance that uses 40 “I don’t know if our sales will go up because the customersw will still have to put out the full amount,” Setzeer said. “But any increase in sales willbe great, and it woulc be a great thinv for people to get their monegy back.” Business has been slow during the economic downturn at both Setzer’s locations here in Jacksonvillee and Ocala, but it’s still going pretty steady because peoplr are always going to need refrigerators and he said.
In addition, 75 to 80 percent of the appliances he sells areEnergyt Star, so Setzer said he’es very hopeful. Energy Star is also excited for the rebatr program to go into effect because the Florida proposalis unprecedented, an Energy Star spokespersobn said. In years past, rebates have causedx a jump intheir sales, but they have nevetr had a rebate program like this