The Gas Company rebates

The Gas Company offers rebates on new clothes washers ($35), dishwashers ($30), low-flow showerheads ($15), furnaces ($200), attic and wall insulation ($0.15/sq. ft.), natural gas storage water heaters ($30/$75 ) and natural gas tankless water heaters ($200). All come with conditions, such as the need to be Energy Star-compliant. Website here.

Rebates on green appliances are far too complicated to take seriously. The biggest problem is finding appliances that qualify. The only way this’ll work is if retailers manage the process completely and provide the instant rebates that they factor into their pricing. This is happening and by and large it works. Mail-in rebates, on the other hand, are for the birds.

If you buy these appliances (excluding furnaces) at the bigger retailers – Home Depot, Lowes, Costco and so on – many of them qualify for an instant rebate at the cash register. This makes it tough for smaller retailers like Waadt’s to compete since, if you buy somewhere else, you basically have to buy the item and install it before you can submit the application for a mail-in rebate.

Then there are some green initiatives that just seem silly. I want to single out one of the low-flow showerheads that generate a rebate by the Gas Company. It is shown in the photo and it works this way: when you turn on the shower and the water reaches 95°F, “the conservation mode is activated and the device interrupts the flow of water to just a trickle” signaling that now you can enter the shower. You pull the cord and begin your shower. I know the idea is well meaning but, seriously, anyone who is remotely energy conscious is going to stick a hand under the water and hop in right away. They don’t need a device like this to tell them.

Finally, if you are a customer of both the SoCal Gas Company and SoCal Edison, check this page for new residential upgrade packages of $1000 and $4000 depending on what upgrades you do.