from Holly in Beloit, WI:
#608
My washer and dryer were ENERGY STAR® qualified when I bought them, but now I’m told they are not. How do you get a tax credit or reward for it if they are not on the list?
Your washer is an ENERGY STAR®.
Congratulations on your purchase! To receive the ENERGY STAR®, a product has to exceed the federal government's minimum standards for energy consumption and efficiency standards by considerable amounts. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) systematically reviews and revises ENERGY STAR specifications for each product to recognize the next best and efficient technologies. EPA revises product specifications as appropriate to ensure that the ENERGY STAR logo remains a trustworthy symbol for consumers. (Note: dryers are not ENERGY STAR qualified because most dryers use similar amounts of energy. To learn more about this, view the FAQ on the ENERGY STAR Web site.)
Although the clothes washer you purchased is not on the current ENERGY STAR qualified product list, this does not mean that it is no longer one of the most energy efficient products out there. In fact, the washer you purchased is still ENERGY STAR qualified according to the specifications that were in effect when the product was manufactured and, depending on the rules of the incentive you wanted to apply for, you would most likely be able to receive it. You won’t see the product you purchased on the current list because it doesn’t meet the new higher efficiency standards for clothes washers that the EPA and DOE challenged manufacturers to meet.
To learn the details about federal tax credits, visit the ENERGY STAR® Web site or the Tax Incentives Assistant Project Web site. These Web sites have information that consumers and businesses need to make use of the federal income tax incentives for energy-efficient products and technologies.
Published Monday, February 08, 2010