Appliances get their own recycled clunkers programs

— -- Cash for clunkers ended this week — for cars.

But old energy-hogging refrigerators and freezers qualify for recycling and cash from more than 60 utilities across the nation. And the federal government is making money available to states so consumers could get rebates of $50 to $200 for new, more energy-efficient appliances later this year in a so-called "cash for appliances" program.

Combined, the appliance initiatives have a goal similar to the cash-for-clunker program for autos: They get less-efficient appliances off the nation's energy grid in favor of newer efficient ones.

The government's rebate program, in which the Department of Energy is providing states with $300 million approved earlier this year as part of President Obama's $787 billion stimulus plan, serves another goal similar to the cash-for-clunker program: It's designed to boost the economy.

"These rebates will help families make the transition to more efficient appliances, making purchases that will directly stimulate the economy and create jobs," Energy Secretary Steven Chu said in announcing the rebate program earlier this summer.

Unlike cash for clunkers, consumers taking advantage of the rebate program wouldn't need to trade in their old refrigerators to get the benefit of buying a new one with an energy-star seal designating it as efficient.

A 'win-win situation'

Meanwhile, utilities in many states offer to pick up and recycle old refrigerators and freezers and give the customer a rebate ranging from $25 to $50. Such programs began on the West Coast in the last decade but more recently have been moving east.

"It's an excellent win-win-win situation," says John Hargrove of NV Energy in Nevada, which has had a refrigerator recycling program for five years. "There are environmental benefits, energy-efficiency benefits and benefits for customers who have a hard time dealing with that old refrigerator holding a six pack of water in the garage."