<p>Maybe coming to an appliace store in your neck of the woods:</p>
<p>[Cash</a> for Refrigerators: Clunkers-Type Rebate for Home Appliances - ABC News](<a href=“'Cash for Refrigerators:' Like Clunkers, but for Appliances - ABC News”>'Cash for Refrigerators:' Like Clunkers, but for Appliances - ABC News)</p>
<p>If someone gives me $200 for my clothes dryer and hauls the old piece of junk away, I’ll be stimulating the economy.</p>
<p>I have a refrigerator that is BEGGING to be put out of it’s misery - I might have to take advantage of this one!</p>
<p>I saw a Sears commercial that said, the savings from your new washer (saved energy + water) will pay for your dryer. It sounded corny, but I thought if that is really true then it might actually make sense to encourage these purchases via govt subsidies. Except that very few if any appliances are made in the U.S, while we still make some cars.</p>
<p>^^ But with the cars there was no requirement that the new car be USA made and the number one selling clunker replacement was Toyota (although they make some of their cars in the USA). And actually, I think a fair number of appliances, including some from foreign brands like Bosch, are made in the USA.</p>
<p>BunsenBurner, clothes dryers may not be included. Ours just died (after a mere 23 years), and we did some checking to see if it would be worth it to hold off on replacing it. Didn’t look promising, just lots of mentioning about replacing fridges, dish and clothes washers, and water heaters.</p>
<p>A lot of time it is the utility company that is giving out the rebate. If they can get enough people to switch to more energy efficient appliances, then they won’t need to build a new power plant (or whatever) or cause brown outs on hot days.</p>
<p>Slithey Tove, well, it doesn’t surprise me. The car clunker program was not well thought through. Dryers should be included - they are energy hogs! Mine is a nightmare - it stops when clothes are still wet, so I need to run it a couple of times to dry a single load of clothes. It is supposed to have some sort of a sensor to make sure that you save energy by not overdrying your clothes -LOL!</p>
<p>Just had a new motor installed in my dryer this afternoon. The appliance repair man was telling me that new appliances are much more poorly made than my Maytag washer and dryer and only have a one year warranty. I’m sure the new appliances are more energy efficient, but the repair guy said the manufacturers are after more dollars from consumers by trying to sell extended warranties. Sounds like there should be an incentive for manufacturers to build things with enough quality to warranty for five years and then more people would be willing to spend the big bucks for new appliances rather than repairing older, more reliable appliances that aren’t so energy efficient.</p>
<p>We paid big bucks ($1K apiece) for our washer & dryer & it has so far lasted about 20 years and appears to be going strong. We did have to replace the washer pump because the tenants we had renting the house let a rat into the house who ate the hose so bleach dripped irectly on the pump. Are happy with the appliances and if you divide it over the years we’ve had it, it was pretty reasonable.</p>
<p>My washing machine is on it’s last legs, and we have been looking into replacing it. I wonder if we could make it last another month or two. It would be a bummer to have to replace it just before this program is in place.</p>
<p>As for dryers, we thought that as long as we were replacing the washer, we’d do them both. (My dryer is 23 years old. The washer is old, but not that old.) What we read said that new dryers aren’t any more efficient than old ones, so I doubt they would be included in the rebate.</p>
<p>Are dishwashers included in this? I am in desperate need of a new one. Get a flood on the kitchen every time it runs. Gift from grandma and grandpa when son was a toddler, now a senior in high school.</p>
<p>I am SO SO excited. This program should come into place just about when I am DONE paying college tuition!!! Woo hoo…maybe I’ll get all new kitchen appliances when I get those new counter tops!!! We bought all of our appliances at the same time 15 years ago. Seems like that should be just about the end of life for at least something!!</p>
<p>H just ordered a $12 part for the washer - there is an upside and a downside to having a hubby who can fix most anything…</p>
<p>What a boondoggle. 200 bucks? Heck, that will be the Government’s transaction cost in processing the voucher to vendors. </p>
<p>As for cash for clunkers, what a mindless herd of consumers we are in America. Did the buyers of the new cars really know that the $4500 bucks they obtained in connection with a cash for clunkers transaction is taxable to them? And of course since so many states use federal adjusted gross income as a baseline they will end up paying state taxes on it too! Better have really needed that new car to account for that increased tax liability. Or maybe one should have waited until they really needed a new car, and run over to a reputable used car dealer to get a late model, low mileage unit with the depreciation loss already absorbed by someone else. </p>
<p>Needles to say, the 200 buck refrigerator credit will be taxable too - better report it - the purchaser’s SSN will be on the paperwork.</p>
<p>“the buyers of the new cars really know that the $4500 bucks they obtained in connection with a cash for clunkers transaction is taxable to them?”</p>
<p>Are we talking income tax or sales tax or excise tax (which is usually included in the registration and licensisg fees)? My guess is the latter two.</p>
<p>I undersatnd that the “kitchen clunkers” program will be structured differently: cash will be given to states to distribute to utility companies and the money will be doled out as energy efficiency rebates from those utility companies - no SSN needed to be provided. Will anyone who got an energy star rebate from your local utility company in the past please raise their hands if you ever paid income tax on that rebate?</p>
<p>The cash for clunkers payment is NOT treated as income for federal income tax purposes (dont know about every state). It is a reduction of purchase price. Dont know how every state treats for sales tax.</p>
<p>Good grief. So far, we have</p>
<p>cash for home (8k credit)
cash for cars
cash for washer/dryer/refrigerator</p>
<p>what’s next?
cash for breathing?<br>
oh wait, already there. It’s called welfare.</p>