The Great Texas 2008 Energy Star Sales Tax Holiday - Memorial Day Weekend

[Guest]

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[Josh]

Planning a big appliance purchase soon? If so, you may want to wait a few more weeks - unbeknownst to most Texans, the state has declared Saturday, May 24 through Monday, May 26 (Memorial Day) an "Energy Star Sales Tax Holiday". During this time, no sales tax will be collected on purchases of air conditioners (room units as well as central units, but must be priced under $6,000), clothes washers, ceiling fans, dehumidifiers, dishwashers, light bulbs, programmable thermostats or refrigerators (priced under $2,000) as long as the have the Energy Star logo, indicating they use less energy than comparable non-Energy-Star products.

This means Memorial Day weekend will be a great time to swap out a few of the incandescent light bulbs in your home that you use the most with Energy Star rated compact fluorescent bulbs, which, on average, last 10 times longer than traditional incandescent bulbs and use 75% less electricity. If every American home replaced just one light bulb with an Energy Star rated bulb, the US would save enough energy to light more than 3 million homes for a year and would eliminate more than $600 million in annual energy costs.

I'm excited to see the state encouraging consumers to purchase Energy Star rated appliances - in my opinion, this is one of the more creative, inventive responses to rising oil prices and our dependence on foreign oil that I have seen. What do you think?

For more information, the Comptroller's office has a page about this event: http://www.window.state.tx.us/taxinfo/taxpubs/tx98_836/

[Agaden]

Wish I had known that a few months back. . . . I only have 8 regular bulbs left in the house and that is due to the difficulty in removing the decorative junk around em to get at em. . . .Bummer. . . .
Oh well, at least now we know!

Is this going to be an every year type of thing or only this year?

Thanks for the info Josh!

 

[Heather]

Not freezers?  Man i really need a freezer.  This could have been a good deal lol

[Josh]

Wish I had known that a few months back. . . . I only have 8 regular bulbs left in the house and that is due to the difficulty in removing the decorative junk around em to get at em. . . .Bummer. . . .
Oh well, at least now we know!

Is this going to be an every year type of thing or only this year?

Thanks for the info Josh!

 

No prob! We, too, have already switched most of our lights to CFL's. It's amazing the difference it can make over the long run in your electric bill, especially if you have lights you leave on quite a bit. It's even helping with the heat in our home office, since there are 4 light bulbs in the light on the fan in the office, and 4 60 watt incandescent bulbs can put off a lot more heat than you'd realize!

I'm not sure if it's going to be an annual event or not, so far they've only announced it for this year. They may be waiting to see how many people take advantage of it, etc.

Not freezers?  Man i really need a freezer.  This could have been a good deal lol

You know, I've been wondering about that - we've been thinking about getting a freezer, and Home Depot has a freezer that comes in both Energy Star and non-Energy Star models; the Energy Star model is $10 or $20 more, but if we didn't have to pay sales tax on that one, that'd make the decision for us! I don't know if the state is going to consider freezers in the refrigerator category or not - they didn't say what kind of fridges - which makes me think it includes 'normal' fridges as well as mini-fridges...and if that's the case, I don't see why freezers wouldn't be included. Maybe it'd be worth an email to the Comptroller's office to see if they can clarify...

[Nate Dogg]

Stoves too???

[Gonzo]

Let me make a suggestion for those of you considering a freezer.  DO NOT get a chest type freezer.  Get an upright.  With the chest, you get things buried in the bottom that you will find yourself forgetting are there.  The upright eliminates that and you will be much, much happier with it.  I guarantee you will be happier with an upright.

[Heather]

Yeah I was told that same thing Gonzo!  I refuse to get a chest.  I need accessability!  Cuz Murphy's Law says whatever you are looking for will be at the bottom!!!!

[outspoken]

Yeah I was told that same thing Gonzo!  I refuse to get a chest.  I need accessability!  Cuz Murphy's Law says whatever you are looking for will be at the bottom!!!!

With upright's -- whatever you are looking for will be at the back! -- LOL


I have had both types of freezers -- upright and chest.  Prefer the upright because with the chest the door kept closing on me while I was bent over digging -- LOL.

[Josh]

Let me make a suggestion for those of you considering a freezer.  DO NOT get a chest type freezer.  Get an upright.  With the chest, you get things buried in the bottom that you will find yourself forgetting are there.  The upright eliminates that and you will be much, much happier with it.  I guarantee you will be happier with an upright.

Dangit, Gonzo, I hope my wife doesn't see this. I wanted a chest freezer, primarily because they have some fairly small models so I don't have to lose too much space to the freezer. She wants an upright, primarily for the reasons you mentioned.

[outspoken]

Dangit, Gonzo, I hope my wife doesn't see this. I wanted a chest freezer, primarily because they have some fairly small models so I don't have to lose too much space to the freezer. She wants an upright, primarily for the reasons you mentioned.

Space wise -- I'm thinking you would do better with an upright -- tall and slender vs. short and wide  -- LOL

[Gonzo]

Dangit, Gonzo, I hope my wife doesn't see this. I wanted a chest freezer, primarily because they have some fairly small models so I don't have to lose too much space to the freezer. She wants an upright, primarily for the reasons you mentioned.

I accept bribes.