Cash for Refrigerators - New Stimulus Package?

Spin Off of the Cash for Clunkers Program

The latest buzz going around is a stimulus package that hasn't been approved yet. While the talk about the cash for clunkers was huge, the actual sales and trade-ins wasn't.

I heard on the news about 50% of the millions of gas guzzlers driven by Americans were still being driven. This figure I thought was a bit higher than I expected it to be due to the amount of layoffs and rises in unemployment. I had to wonder how so many people were going to afford their new car payments.

With that said, the government is now looking at a stimulus package similar to the cash for clunkers. The proposed name of this one is cash for refrigerators. It will not be limited to refrigerators. It will include similar household appliances that will rate better for efficiency. The amount being proposed is $50 to $200 rebate. This stimulus package is one that will interest me more so than the cash for clunkers.

After all, I do have a refrigerator that is seventeen years old. Not only is my refrigerator seventeen years old, it now is beginning to have its own issues. My refrigerators issues are far worse than the 18 to 20 MPG that my husband's truck has.

The rubber sealer around the refrigerator door is shifting and squeezing out the left-hand side of the door. It makes loud growling noises as if it wants to just kick the bucket. In seventeen years, we have never had service of any kind done to our refrigerator.

On another note, when we bought this refrigerator over seventeen years ago, it was, at that time, one of the higher rated efficiently rated refrigerators on the market. In today's market, it would be considered on the super low end of star ratings for electricity efficiency. Meaning, it is just a step above the refrigerators prior to those who don't have any efficiency rating.

While my refrigerator isn't the only appliance in my house that has seen better days physically, my washer and dryer could use a stimulus bump too. Their efficiency rating is higher than the refrigerator. That isn't saying much for them either since they are fifteen years old.