Norfolk, VA- Trying to save money on your annual energy bill? It might be time to check your refrigerator.
That old refrigerator in your garage could be costing you an extra $100 a year but thankfully, Dominion Virginia Power will pick up and recycle old, less efficient refrigerators at no cost. Customers will actually receive a $50 incentive for participating in the new Residential Appliance Recycling Program.
“Refrigerator efficiency has improved dramatically in the past 20 years,” said Dominion’s Vice President of Technical Solutions, Ken Barker. “Homeowners oftentimes don’t realize how much their old refrigerators may be impacting their energy bills.”
The Environmental Protection Agency encourages consumers to make the shift to Energy Star appliances. These appliances are over 15 percent more energy efficient than appliances built to 2009 regulations. These older refrigerators consume even more energy when kept in a hot garage or exposed to the elements. Use Energy Star’s Refrigerator Retirement Savings Calculator to figure out how much you old refrigerator costs to run.
“We not only want to educate our customers on this lesser-known source of wasted energy, we want to help them do something about it,” said Barker.
To help customers do something about it, Dominion will pick up refrigerators and freezers if they range from 10 to 32 cubic feet in capacity, are at least 10 years of age and are operational and empty at the time of pickup.
In order to participate:
- Residential customers in Virginia can enroll online or call 1-844-685-7462.
- Dominion’s contractor, JACO Environmental, will call the customer to schedule a pickup date and time.
- Following the pickup, the $50 check will be mailed to the customer. Customers are eligible to recycle two qualifying appliances per account over the life of the program.
After pickup, Dominion’s contractor will disable the unit, recycle the applicable components and properly dispose of the chemicals.
-Danielle Ruble
