Eligible low income households will receive a 40 per cent cut on the cost of a new fridge, and 50 per cent on a new TV, under a state government scheme to assist them to switch to energy efficient appliances.
Environment Minister and Cronulla MP Mark Speakman announced the scheme at The Good Guys at Caringbah.
The company, which has a chain of stores and is the retail partner in the scheme, said it would offer a further discount.
The state government subsidy of 40-50 per cent is available to holders of a valid Pensioner Concession Card, Health Care Card or Low Income Health Care Card from Centrelink or a Gold Card from Veterans’ Affairs
The fridge being replaced must be six years or older, and the TV being replaced must be a plasma or cathode ray tube (CRT) TV.
Mr Speakman said replacing an inefficient fridge would save a household up to $200 a year on its energy bill.
Replacing an inefficient TV would save up to $125 a year.
Mr Speakman said $4 million had been allocated for the initiative from the state government’s $26.8 million Home Energy Action program.
About 20,000 low income households were expected to take up the offer, which would be available until the $4 million budget was exhausted.
Mr Speakman said the government was working with community service organisations to ensure their clients could easily access the offer.
He said the scheme was expected to save enough electricity to power more than 1800 average NSW households a year.
It could reduce carbon emissions by about 11,500 tonnes every year, which was the equivalent of taking more than 2800 cars off the road.
The government has set a target to save, through various measures, 16,000 gigawatt hours of energy a year by 2020.
To apply for a subsidy: environment.nsw.gov.au/households/appliance-replacement-offer.htm
