We interrupt this regularly scheduled FollowFriday to bring you some very important news about the Texas Trade Up Appliance Rebate Program.  A few things have changed, including the date for reserving rebates and some valuable new information has been added to the Official State of Texas Energy Efficient Appliance Rebate Program Web site.  For those of you who are familiar with the program and/or have been following our articles on the topic, you can jump on down to the Changes section.  For the rest of you, we have a quick recap.

Cash-for-Clunkers for Appliances?

In February, it was announced that the highly successful Cash-for-Clunkers program would soon extend to home appliances, like dishwashers, freezers, refrigerators and air-conditioners.  Those interested would be able to purchase new, energy-efficient appliances to replace their old, working appliances and receive a rebate from their state program (assuming the guidelines were met).  These rebates ranged from $45 – $1,600 dollars (per appliance) in Texas alone.   The program guidelines were different for each state and information was/is available on the Energy Savers web site.

We have posted 2 articles about the program so far, in case you would like to know more about it:

Cash-for-Clunker Program to Extend to Appliances in April – originally posted February 24th, 2010
Trade Up Appliance Rebate Program – The Final Countdown – originally posted March 25th, 2010

Changes

For residents of Texas*, an official web site was created for the “Trade Up” program and should be the definitive source of information for all program related details and questions.  Yesterday (April 1st, 2010) some big changes were made to the site and the details of the program.
* Residents of all other states should refer to the Energy Savers web site for information on their state programs.

Official Texas Trade Up Appliance Rebate Program Web Site

• Reserve Your Rebate Date – The single most important change to the program is a NEW date to reserve your rebate.  The new date (as of 4/01/10) is Wednesday, April 7th.  This is the second change since the inception of the program and hopefully everyone gets this information.  An email did go out on April 1st to those who signed up to receive alerts.
• Reserve Your Rebate Time – A time has been announced.  Beginning at 7am on the 7th (pretty easy to remember), consumers can visit the online reservation system at www.TexasPowerfulSmart.org or call toll-free to 1-877-780-3039 to reserve rebates.
• More Rebates and Incentives – Additional federal, state and local incentives were added to the web site under More Rebates and Incentives.  According to one of the descriptions “You can use these in conjunction with the Texas Trade Up Appliance Rebate for even more savings, depending on your area’s program.”  I strongly urge everyone to read this tab, as their are other programs that sound very interesting.

Frequently Asked Questions

A Frequently Asked Questions area is available on TexasPowerfulSmart.org and anyone interested in this program should take a look at this page before visiting the reservation site on Wednesday.  Many of the questions and answers are simple information duplicated from other areas of the site, but a few answered legitimate questions that I have heard raised before.  In particular,  I found this example to be very important (even if I completely disagree with the restriction):

Where can I buy eligible appliances?
Residents are required to purchase appliances in-store from a Texas retailer. Online purchases do not qualify for a rebate. Purchases of central air conditioners, air-source heat pumps and hot water heaters can also be made from a Texas contractor.

What Next?

I have said it before, but will say it again.  IF you are interested, you NEED to take the following steps AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.  This is for your own good.

1. Mark the dates on your calendar, place, device, trick….  Do whatever it takes to remember the reservation and purchase dates.
2. Read the web site thoroughly before the 7th! The information is straight-forward but you must be armed with the answers before you go to reserve a rebate.
3. Decide what rebate(s) you will apply for. You must apply for the proper category in order to receive a rebate.  You don’t have to know the specific make and model of what you will be buying, but you must decide what appliances you will be replacing by the 7th.

Tags: appliance, april, cash-for-clunkers, efficiency, energy, rebate, Smart, Texas, trade up, U.S.

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