REBATES: No sales tax for Energy Star products purchased in Georgia.

2008 Energy Efficient Products Sales Tax Holiday  October 2008 - for GEORGIA residents

In an effort to help Georgians conserve energy and water, save money and protect the environment, today Governor Perdue announced Georgia’s fourth annual ENERGY STAR Sales Tax Holiday has been expanded for the first time to include WaterSense labeled products.

Georgians will not pay state or local sales taxes on the purchase of energy efficient or water efficient products that cost $1,500 or less per item.

The sales tax holiday begins at 12:01a.m. Thursday, October 2, 2008 and runs through midnight Sunday, October 5, 2008.

ENERGY STAR designated products meet strict energy efficiency criteria set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Qualified ENERGY STAR appliances and products include dishwashers, clothes washers, air conditioners, ceiling fans, fluorescent light bulbs, dehumidifiers, programmable thermostats, refrigerators, doors and windows.

Many ENERGY STAR qualified appliances use 30 percent less energy than conventional models without sacrificing features, style or comfort. Some products, such as energy efficient compact fluorescent bulbs, save as much as 80 percent.

For more information and to better understand the options and benefits of ENERGY STAR qualified products, visit the interactive ENERGY STAR @ Home tool at www.energystar.gov.

The EPA created the WaterSense program to recognize major water consuming products that are 20 percent more water-efficient and perform as well as or better than conventional models. Currently, 264 high efficiency toilets and 209 bathroom faucets and faucet accessories meet the designation and can be found at a variety of price points at retailers across the state.

“WaterSense is an opportunity for Georgians to make an important choice to help the environment,”  said Carol A. Couch, director of the Environmental Protection Division of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.

“The rewards are many, but the most immediate one is the savings you see on your water bill.”

According to the EPA, installing WaterSense labeled fixtures can have an enormous impact on the amount of water people use in their bathrooms, and the cost of water on their utility bills:

• EPA estimates that a family of four that replaces its home’s older toilets with WaterSense labeled models will, using national average water rates, save more than $90 per year in reduced water utility bills, and $2,000 over the lifetime of the toilets.
• If half of the households in Georgia replaced toilets installed before 1994 with WaterSense labeled high-efficiency toilets (HETs), the savings would be more than 18 billion gallons per year, enough to supply Savannah and surrounding communities in Chatham County for a whole year.
• If every household in Georgia installed high-efficiency faucets or faucet aerators, it would save more than five million gallons a day, that’s saving enough water to fill every tank in Atlanta’s Georgia Aquarium, the world’s largest, in about 37 hours.

For toilets, the key requirements are using no more than 1.28 gallons per flush and solid waste removal of 350 grams or more, ensuring that people won’t have to flush multiple times.

Faucets limit flow to 1.5 gallons per minute while still delivering 60 psi of pressure.

 Print This Post