Cash for Appliances Buyer's Guide: Water heaters

If you need a new water heater and are planning to take advantage of the $300 million State Energy Efficient Appliance Rebate Program, also called cash for clunkers for appliances or cash for appliances, use the advice below:

States offering rebates for water heaters: Rebates for water heaters are available in 32 of 56 U.S. states and territories. Find out whether water heaters eligible for a rebate where you live and use our interactive map to link to the appliance clunkers Web site in your state.

Rebate amounts: As with every appliance that's part of the cash for appliances program, rebates vary by state. In Arizona, for example, residents will get $200 for a gas-powered storage- tank water heater, $300 for a gas-powered tankless water heater, and $435 for an electric heat-pump water heater such as the new GE GeoSpring electric heat-pump water heater we recently reviewed. Wyoming isn't offering rebates for gas-fired storage-tank water heaters but is giving rebates of $150 on gas-powered tankless, electric heat-pump, and solar water heaters. New Hampshire is offering $100 on a gas-fired storage-tank water heaters, $300 on gas-fired tankless water heaters, and $750 on solar water heaters.

Have you received a cash for appliances rebate?

Save with a cash for appliances rebate.

If you're a reader of the Consumer Reports Home & Garden blog, you know that we regularly cover the $300 million State Energy Efficient Appliance Rebate Program, otherwise known as cash for appliances or cash for clunkers for appliances. (We've also started following the Obama administration's proposal for the $6 billion Homestar program, aka cash for caulkers.)

Take our informal poll* on the appliance-rebate program:

If you need a new refrigerator, dishwasher, washing machine, heating and cooling equipment, or water heater, among other products eligible for a cash for appliances rebate, the rebate program will save you money on your purchase. And visit the Home & Garden blog for updates on cash for clunkers for appliances.

*The poll is not scientific. It reflects the opinions of only those Web users who have chosen to participate. The results cannot be assumed to represent the opinions of Web users in general, nor the public as a whole. Consumers Union is not responsible for content, functionality or the opinions expressed therein.

By the Numbers: Washing machines head up the class for smart appliances

$5.46 billion

Projected U.S. sales of smart appliances by 2015, according to "Smart Appliance Report 2010," from Zpryme Research & Consulting. In 2008, annual revenue for the entire U.S. appliance industry was about $22 billion.

Washing machines are expected to post the greatest intelligence gains, accounting for 19.2 percent of smart-appliance sales by 2015. Smart refrigerators and dryers are projected to grab 17.4 and 17.3 percent of the market, respectively.

It makes sense that washing machines will lead the way for smart appliances, which among other high-tech capabilities can make cost-saving adjustments by receiving price signals from utilities. Since washers are in use only some of the time, they can better take advantage of lower electricity rates from demand-response pricing.

By the Numbers: Wasted water adds up drip by drip

10,000

Save water by fixing plumbing leaks.

Number of gallons of water the average American family wastes every year because of dripping faucets, running toilets, and other plumbing leaks, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which estimates that more than a trillion gallons of water leak from American homes every year. (Find more wasted-water stats from the EPA.)

To help you find drips and leaks and make the necessary repairs in your home, the EPA is putting on events and programs across the country as part of Fix a Leak Week, which run through March 21. If you can't make it to a Fix a Leak Week event, check out the EPA's step-by-step instructions for fixing toilets, faucets, showerheads, and outdoor-irrigation systems.

—Celia Kuperszmid Lehrman

Essential information: If your toilet or showerhead is more than 15 years old you can save water and money by installing a new water-saving toilet or low-flow showerhead. Our latest report on toilets found that many single-flush toilets outperformed dual-flush models and our review of low-flow showerheads featured some that provide a nice strong flow and can save you money. If you're looking for a new, efficient water heater, read our review of the GE GeoSpring electric heat-pump water heater.

Tip of the Day: Make sure your homeowners insurance covers you for storm damage

As we reported yesterday in "Late-Winter Storm Delivers Another Blow to Northeast," what's been dubbed a hurricane without a name has left a path of devastation in the New York City metropolitan area, including countless fallen trees.

Whether you're one of the thousands of area residents whose property suffered damage from a downed tree last weekend or if you're just concerned about your own homeowners insurance coverage, read "Will Homeowners Insurance Cover That Fallen Tree?" from the Consumer Reports Money blog. The post offers information on homeowners insurance from the Insurance Information Institute trade group.

Promoting Homestar plan, Obama visited Opower

Opower got a boost from Obama.

Last November, we reported on how utilities across the country are working with Arlington, Virginia-based software company Opower to create bills that compare consumers' monthly usage to that of their neighbors and include energy-saving tips.

Opower got a nice nod on March 5 when President Barack Obama visited the company's headquarters. Stumping for his administration's $6 billion proposal for the Homestar initiative, the president drew a link between Opower's technology and what's been dubbed cash for caulkers.

"If they're getting this good information from Opower and they see that, boy, that drafty window is costing me a couple of hundred bucks a year, they're now going to have an incentive to go to Home Depots or go to Lowe's to hire a certified contractor and make the changes that will ultimately pay for themselves, improve our environment, and improve our economy," said the president, who a few months ago called home insulation "sexy."

—Gian Trotta

Essential information: See our Energy Saving & Green Living guide for more ways to save energy and money at home.

Inside Consumer Reports Test Labs: Review of the GE GeoSpring electric heat-pump water heater

The new GE GeoSpring can save you money.

You might have recently seen a TV ad showing a troop of snow monkeys bathing in a hot spring that's seemingly heated by the new GE GeoSpring electric heat-pump water heater. "Heating your water in your home any other way is going to seem primitive" the ad concludes as the monkeys soak blissfully in the steaming water.

It's a neat commercial, but what could be most interesting to you is how much money the GeoSpring water heater might save you. GE says the unit could reduce electric-water-heater operating costs up to 62 percent and save the average U.S. household $320 a year.

Based on our preliminary tests in a room with an ambient temperature of 65° to 70°F, the GeoSpring has produced energy savings of at least 50 percent compared with a standard GE 50-gallon electric water heater. That would result in annual savings of $280 or higher, based on the $560 cost of running a standard 50-gallon electric water heater and the 2009 national average electricity price of 11.4 cents per kilowatt hour. (This U.S. Department of Energy calculator can estimate your water-heating costs.)

Cash for Appliances Update: Bigger rebates generate greater consumer interest

If Iowa and Minnesota are any indication, the more generous the rebate in the U.S. Department of Energy's $300 million State Energy Efficient Appliance Rebate Program, the faster the money tends to go. Both states exhausted their cash for clunkers for appliances funding in a single day. (Iowa doled out $2,881,000; Minnesota, $5,009,000.)

Such demand may explain why Florida is requiring residents to reserve rebates for the sizable 20 percent givebacks through its $17,585,466 Energy Star Appliance Rebate Program, which runs April 16-25. "We don't want a lot of disappointed people," program manager Brenda Buchan told The Palm Beach Post.

Several other states, including Pennsylvania and Texas, are also requiring reservations, perhaps a sign that there's pent-up demand for appliances among consumers. Indeed, based on the latest Consumer Reports Index, the major-appliances category was one of only two where consumers spent more in February.

—Daniel DiClerico

Essential information: Get the latest information from the cash for clunkers for appliances Web site in your state. Also check out our cash for appliances buyer's guides to dishwashers and washing machines and find out where to buy appliances.

Keeping PACE: Town of Babylon helps homeowners pay for green improvements

Get money for green home improvements.

Swapping out incandescent lightbulbs with the best compact fluorescent lightbulbs and replacing an old showerhead with a low-flow showerhead are easy, low-cost ways to lower your monthly utility bills. However, the up-front costs for some energy-efficiency-boosting projects can be substantial, such as installing new heating and cooling equipment and windows.

In an effort to spur homeowners to make energy-efficient improvements, municipalities nationwide are turning to Property Assessed Clean Energy, or PACE, bonds. A town issues a PACE bond and uses that money to lend homeowners the money to undertake energy-saving upgrades; the homeowners pay back the loans via a surcharge on their property taxes. Read more about PACE bonds in "10 Questions for . . . Jack Hidary, Chairman of SmartTransportation.org."

The Town of Babylon, on Long Island, New York, has implemented a PACE program, providing up to $12,000 per home for energy-saving improvements that are made based on an energy audit. It's one of eight municipalities participating in the Long Island Green Homes & Buildings Consortium.

Tip of the Day: Don't shy away from haggling on major-appliance purchases

Some legwork can save you on appliance buys.

Given how expensive major appliances are, it makes sense to look for rebates and additional incentives. Many consumers are doing just that, as cash for clunkers for appliances seems to be a success in some states.

It also pays to look for sales and other deals and to be a tough price negotiator. In an online survey by the NPD Group market-research firm of 7,130 adult Canadians who reported buying a major appliance from May 2008 to April 2009, less than a third of consumers surveyed paid full price. Half bought the item on sale and nearly 20 percent haggled on the sticker price.

Not everyone embraces haggling. A subscriber survey by the Consumer Reports National Research Center found that only 33 percent of people who bought major appliances tried negotiating. But of those who did, 75 percent succeeded in getting a lower price—saving a median of $100 on a purchase.