The Appliance Stimulus covers new Energy Star Dishwasher purchases too. The Appliance Stimulus Package called Cash for Appliances by some was designed with several goals in mind. The most important goal was to help the appliance industry which has seen its sales drop by about 20%. The Obama Administration is hoping the rebates of $50 – $200 combined with existing rebate plans in effect in about ½ the states along with discount pricing by manufacturers and retailers will spur a large enough sales increase to help the industry and save jobs. The other goals are to save water and energy, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and saving consumers money.
Replacing an existing older model dishwasher with one that qualifies under the Appliance Stimulus program will save you about $40 per year in energy costs, and about 8 gallons of water per cycle. If you wash dishes by hand and buy an Energy star you will save energy costs in the area of $40 per year and will save about 5,000 gallons of water a year. In addition it will clean the dishes better because dishwashers boost the water temperature to 140 degrees F and save you about 230 hours of your personal time over the year. What can you do with an extra 10 days of time per year?
Dishwashers that have the Energy Star seal qualify for the Appliance Stimulus rebates and they are vastly improved over the older models. New technology such as soil sensors test the amount of soil in the water throughout the wash cycle and automatically adjust the wash cycle to obtain optimum cleaning with a minimum use of energy and water. The dishwasher also filters the wash water allowing smaller amounts of water to better clean your dishes. The racks and spray nozzles are better designed to allow better cleaning of the dishes. Not only will a new dishwasher that qualifies for the Appliance Stimulus save you money on every load you wash but they will clean the dishes better than your old dishwasher as well.
There are a few additional things you can do with your new Appliance Stimulus eligible dishwasher to have even more savings. Avoid rinsing dishes before placing them in the dishwasher. Simply scrape the food off the dishes this will save about 20 gallons of water per load. Today’s Energy Star dishwashers and detergents are designed to clean the dishes so you don’t have to. If dirty dishes will be sitting overnight use the dishwashers rinse feature which uses a lot less water than you would hand rinsing. The dishwasher uses the same amount of energy and water regardless of the load size so load it up! Finally use the “no heat” dish drying to save additional energy costs, you will find it works very well.
Get ready to buy a new Energy Star dishwasher and get your Appliance Stimulus rebate later this fall when your states program goes into effect.
Check out the Appliance Stimulus eligible dishwashers at Lowes, Home Depot, Best Buy and Sears. Be ready to get your Cash for Appliances before the funding runs out.