ALBANY, N.Y. — Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced that the State of New York has launched an $8 million appliance rebate program to help residents whose appliances were damaged by Hurricane Irene or Tropical Storm Lee. The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority is administering the program. Residents can apply for cash grants to defray the cost of buying new water heaters, boilers and furnaces.
The rebate applies to single-family homes and multi-family buildings, but only to units not covered by insurance or FEMA.
To get the money, residents must purchase eligible Energy Star or high efficiency appliances or equipment. The products eligible under this rebate program are refrigerators - $350, clothes washers - $250, clothes dryers - $250, dehumidifiers - $100, furnaces - $2,000, boilers - $2,500, and qualified water heaters (gas storage water heaters, heat pump water heaters, electric water heaters - $400).
Only appliances and equipment that replace those damaged in the storms are eligible for rebates, with the exception of dehumidifiers that can either replace a damaged dehumidifier or have been purchased to reduce humidity resulting from the storm.
To qualify for the rebate, purchases must be made on or after Aug. 29, 2011, for residents affected by Hurricane Irene, and on or after Sept. 9, 2011, for residents affected by Tropical Storm Lee. Appliances or equipment must meet the Energy Star criteria. There are exceptions, however. Clothes dryers are not Energy Star qualified; rebates will be provided for moisture sensing dryers from the program’s qualifying product list. Electric water heaters are not Energy Star qualified; rebates will be provided for eligible electric hot water heaters from the programs qualifying product list. There are gas water heaters that are Energy Star qualified and they are eligible for rebates. Program materials are silent on the subject of tankless water heaters. If CONTRACTOR can obtain information on the eligibility of tankless heaters, we will update this post.
Additional information is available at https://www.nysappliancerebates.com/. The website should be active for the consumers application process for the rebates.
Applicants must attest that the appliance or equipment they are requesting a rebate for is not covered by insurance or FEMA grants. If the applicant has not yet received a determination from FEMA or their insurance company, the applicant must attest that he will disclose the NYSERDA rebate to both FEMA and his insurance company.
Homeowners will also be required to attest that the appliance purchase is a replacement that is a direct result of the storm. (Note that the purchase of a dehumidifier is not required to be a replacement purchase.) Applicants must be New York State residents who sustained property damage resulting from the two storms, and the qualified appliances or equipment must be installed at a New York State residential address.
Rebates will be processed on a first come, first served basis until program funding has been exhausted. Funds are limited. A maximum of one rebate per appliance/equipment type is allowed per installation address. Additional rebates may be available from NYSERDA, manufacturers or the local utility.
Homeowners must purchase the appliances or equipment before they can apply for the rebates because they have to mail in the purchase receipts with the rebate forms.
Homeowners also must be able to supply complete information on their homeowner’s insurance, including agent, policy numbers and phone numbers.
Homeowners can apply by filling out the application form, available online, and mail it in with the required purchase receipts. Alternately, they can call the program hotline at 877/NY-SMART to fill out the form over the phone, wait to receive the completed application by either e-mail or hard copy in the U.S. Mail, sign the application and then mail it with the required purchase receipts.
Homeowners with questions should call the Help Desk at 877-NY-SMART for assistance. The Help Desk is open from 8:30 AM to 10:00 PM ET Monday through Friday and 8:30AM through 5PM ET Saturday and Sunday.
Funds were provided from the U.S. Department of Energy's State Energy Program. The State Energy Program (SEP) provides grants to states and directs funding to State Energy Offices from technology programs in DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. States use grants to address their energy priorities and to adopt emerging renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies. SEP is distributing $3.1 billion of funding to the states and U.S. territories under the 2009 Recovery Act.
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