Lifestyle Home & Garden Stay Cool and Save Money
Stay Cool and Save Money
If you own a Greek Island property, then you are in for a treat this summer. From Monday, 8 June, the government is introducing an initiative to provide a discount for those replacing their existing air conditioning. All you need is a property which you own personally on the mainland or on any of the Greek Islands to qualify. You can get a 25% discount, up to 500 euros, when replacing your existing air conditioner with an energy-efficient inverter type. The discount period will last for six months.
The Development Ministry's programme is to make energy savings and update some 3 million old air conditioners which are not energy efficient. Businesses do not qualify, only individuals with a home. Unfortunately, if you are planning installing new air con, the discount will not apply. It is only for those replacing old units.
The guidelines:
- The old air conditioner must be working, not broken
- You choose the shop you want to buy new units from
- You can buy up to two air con units per household: up to 16000 btu it must be an inverter type with energy rating of AA: over 16000 btu, again an inverter with energy rating of AA through to BB
- You can claim 35% discount of the retail price plus VAT, up to a ceiling of 500 euros discount on each unit
- You will need proof of identity, copy of a recent electric bill in your name and the address of the property where you are replacing the air con units
- You are responsible for taking the old unit to the store where you buy the new one
The average cost of an air con unit is about 800 euros, so this represents a government subsidy of some 280 euros per unit. The cost of this government programme, covering the whole of Greece and the Greek Islands, will be around 15 million euros. The government is anticipating that the replacement of the old units will turn into a saving of 20 gigawatts of energy and some 20,000 tons of gas emissions. The government have further indicated that they may up the budget of the programme if there is very high demand and added that there will shortly be another initiative for replacing old refrigerators.
For further information you can visit a special website about the initiative www.allazoklima.gr (in Greek) and livingingreece.gr/2009/06/03/replace-air-conditioner-greece/