Are you in the middle of a kitchen remodel?  Or are you thinking about whether or not you should replace your 10 year old refrigerator?  Maybe you’ve had your heart set on that new matching red clothes washer and dryer set for a while now - oops, I’m projecting - well wait until April 22 to buy them, because you’ll get an added rebate.

Starting April 22, 2010 and ending May 23, 2010, the California Energy Commission will give you a rebate in addition to your local utility’s appliance rebate programs.  The Cash4Appliances program gives you the following:

Eligible Refrigerators - $200 
Eligible Clothes Washers - $100 
Eligible Room Air Conditioners - up to $50

Here are a few rules to keep in mind:

1. You have to buy these appliances from an in-state store.  Amazon or BestBuy.com purchases aren’t eligible.  However, BestBuy purchases made in their stores are eligible.
2. You have to show proof that you recycled your old appliance before you can get the rebate.
3. You have to buy your appliances between April 22, 2010 and May 23, 2010 and rebate claims must be postmarked by June 25, 2010.

So if you were thinking about getting a new refrigerator, clothes washer or room air conditioner - browse the stores, see if they’re a good investment and then purchase them between April 22nd and May 23rd.

We compared 4 homes in the US using Wattbot.com and found that no two homes are alike when it comes to saving money on their energy bill. 

We recommended installing a solar hot water system to the family of three living in a 1972 single-family home in Orinda, California and it would only cost them $1,837 upfront. 

However, even though the solar hot water incentives in New York were bigger, the most cost-effective energy saving recommendation for the Scarsdale home built in 1900 was to install solar electric (Solar PV) panels. Then again it would cost them $25,000 upfront, but the next logical choice to reduce their bill would be to install insulation for less than $1000 upfront and they would still make money on that investment assuming they stayed in their home for another 15 years.

The homes in Randolph, New Jersey and Bethany, Connecticut both got the same recommendation - to install insulation - however, the insulation incentives in New Jersey came out to $300 more than Connecticut’s, although the upfront costs of installing insulation in both states is just under $2,000.

What was surprising was that replacing a refrigerator, while there are rebates available, never came up as the most cost-effective choice, although compared to the other recommendations - it is one of the cheaper upfront cost improvements you can make to lower your energy bill.

Now it’s your turn, type your address into www.wattbot.com and see what the most cost effective way is for you to save money on your energy bill.  Send us an email with your top recommendation and you’ll have a chance to be in our next video.