New York Residents Can Apply For A Free Clothing Dryer. Here's Who Qualifies

There are a lot of small changes you can make to encourage sustainable living as climate change affects urban and natural environments all across the globe. From the classics like recycling or composting your food waste to installing appliances like low-flow showerheads that will save money on your water bill, seemingly innocuous aspects of your life can make an impact if all of us do our part. You might not even realize how the cost of household appliances can add up, with clothing dryers alone using nearly 3% of the U.S. residential energy budget — generating more than 27 million tons of carbon dioxide every year. New York has a jump on addressing this particular concern, being the first state to offer rebates on more energy efficient heat pump-based clothes dryers.

Air drying will be the least costly pivot in terms of energy and money, and treats your clothes more gently so they last longer. But with 80% of American households owning a dryer, it makes sense to focus on replacing inefficient electric or fossil fuel-based appliances, especially as U.S. citizens deal with unpredictable work hours and incomes that make chores even more of a chore. New York's clothing dryer rebate launched in November 2024, funded by the Biden administration's 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, and it is designed to help any household which earns up to 150% of the state's area median income (AMI). Both homeowners and renters can apply on a first-come, first-served basis, all you'll need is documentation proving your current financial situation.

If New York's Appliance Upgrade Program (AUP) is available to you, the cost savings are undoubtedly worth looking into. It offers rebate incentives of up to $840 for buying and installing new energy efficient clothing dryers, as well as additional funding for electrical wiring (up to $2,500) and panel upgrades (up to $4,000). Combined with New York's EmPower+ energy improvement program that targets insulation and heat pump-based appliances like certain types of water heaters, households under 80% of the state's AMI could receive upwards of $14,000 in total incentives. To start, you can go to the New York State Energy Research and Authority (NYSERA)'s AUP website to see how much you qualify for based on your income and county of residence.

Once you have a target in mind, the only thing you need to do to apply is create a profile through New York's MyEnergy program and provide the required documents. Renters will have to start by getting their landlord's approval through a Building Owner Attestation, but otherwise all applicants just need their most recent bill and documentation of all current income sources (including, but not limited to, disability, unemployment, and veteran's benefits). Tax returns from every member of the household that showcase all income sources are also applicable documents. Beyond that, NYSERA only asks for a picture of the place you're going to install that new dryer. Successful applicants will receive coupon codes to use at select retailers for Energy Star-certified heat pump dryers.

Taking advantage of these rebate incentives also makes sense from a sustainability angle. The U.S. Department of Energy reports that its Energy Star heat pump clothing dryers can reduce energy usage by 28%, all the while running at a lower temperature that's more gentle on clothes. This is because a heat pump dryer removes moisture by heating the air in a closed system rather than venting humid air out the back of your appliance. Switching from gas-powered dryers to a heat pump appliance might require some additional work to be done on your house befitting this more energy-efficient system. For example, you may need to cap the gas line that connected your original dryer before a new installation can begin.

This is all well and good for New Yorkers, but if you find yourself outside the Empire State, you may just have to wait to see more opportunities arise. The Department of Energy first approved New York's funding application for $158 million in April 2024. Nine additional states have launched programs alongside Washington D.C., as of November 2024, but the federal government's tracking site appears to have been taken down in the interim. You'll need to do some digging or contact your local officials to see whether similar programs exist in your state, but in the meantime, you can also follow some energy efficient tips like letting your clothing dryer rest between loads.