And who couldn’t use some of that?

by Ron Rothenberg, 4 Buyers Real Estate

 

I love rebates. I even love filling out rebate forms. I especially love receiving checks and gift cards.

 

Right now, I’ve got a $715 gift card burning a hole in my pocket. I got it from the gas company for converting one of my heating systems from oil to gas. The rebate is for a gas boiler they sold to me at a discount already.

 

 

Pretty soon I’ll have a $400 rebate card for replacing my traditional water heater with an indirect tank, that will last a lifetime, rather than need to be replaced every 10 years.

 

All these things they’re stuffing my pockets for doing, are things that were worth doing anyway.

 

I also see lots of homes with second refrigerators in their basements. That’s costly for a lot of reasons – usually they’re older, inefficient refrigerators, regularly adding $15-$30 per month to your energy bill. Refrigerators are the appliance in your house that uses the most electricity, and older (>10years old) refrigerators can use up to four times as much energy as newer ones.

 

And usually, there’s nothing in the extra fridge, or maybe just a few cans of beer. Yes, I know you need an extra fridge for that big party every few years, but do you realize how much it’s costing you? Why not just get a bigger, more efficient refrigerator upstairs the next time you buy one?

 

For the month of February, if you’re an NSTAR customer, you can call NSTAR, they’ll cart away your old watt-guzzling fridge, and give you a nice check or gift card for $100.

 

Almost makes me wish I had a second fridge.

 

Enroll online at NSTAR’s Refrigerator Recycling Site

or call 877-545-4113 to schedule a pickup.

 

Now, if they’d only start making offers for some of my other extra belongings.