Hurry, state appliance rebates may be gone fast

The “Cash for Refrigerators” program arrives in Iowa today, and dawdling is not recommended.

Most appliance dealers are geared up to help customers sort through the program's requirements, but they say supplies of some appliances are short, and the cash may not last long, either.

Online and telephone registration begins at 8 a.m. for rebate codes good for $100 to $500 per appliance from the Iowa Energy Efficiency Appliance Rebate Program. Iowans have 30 days to use the coupon codes to buy one or more qualifying, energy-efficient appliances from Iowa appliance dealers.

The state has only $2.77 million to spread among 3 million residents, however. Even if the average participant uses only $300 in rebates, participation will be limited to about 9,000 people.

Toby Hyde, owner of Whirlpool dealer Foster Appliance, 1920 S. Gilbert St. in Iowa City, fielded about 25 calls Wednesday about the program. He's ordered “maybe 30, 40 pieces of what I think will be the hot stuff,” but is worried that some customers may still not get what they want through the program.

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The problem? Some products were already out of stock, because they were so popular in states that have already rolled out their “Cash for Refrigerators” programs with federal stimulus dollars.

Hyde says the hard-to-find items tend to be the least expensive appliances with the highest rebates, like an $800 refrigerator in the highest efficiency category that qualifies for the highest rebate of $500.

Hyde did stock up on the Whirlpool models that qualify and are good sellers.

“I told people, ‘If you want it, you need to hustle,'” said appliance dealer Blaine Thomas of Slager Appliances, 425 Highway 1 W. in Iowa City.

Thomas said the GE dealer has plenty of inventory going into the program, but he still recommends customers make a backup choice in case their preferred model sells out and can't be reordered.

Few in the appliance business seem to think the rebate coupons will be available long.

“A few days, and it'll be gone,” said Bruce Porter, owner of Metro Appliances, 620 Center Point Rd. NE in Cedar Rapids.

Porter said he expects many customers have energy-wasting appliances that are 10 to 15 years old. His own parents in Fort Dodge, for example, are planning to use the program to upgrade their 38-year-old avocado green dishwasher.

The stimulus program “will help carry us through these tough times,” Porter said.

The Iowa Office of Energy Independence doesn't believe the rebate registration system will be overwhelmed by the volume of calls and Web hits. The contractor handling the order processing can manage 850 phone calls and 11,000 Web hits per hour.

Office spokesman Don Tormey said the state believes the coupon money could last two weeks, based on the results of earlier programs in Georgia and Michigan.