Denise Alexandre, co-owner of Danny’s TV and Appliance, in North Smithfield, stands beside an Energy Star-rated refrigerator.

The Providence Journal / Mary Murphy

The federal government will dangle more cash in front of recession-weary Americans soon in the hope they will get out and spend it at stores around the country.

The Department of Energy is making available $300 million to consumers for the purchase of new, energy-efficient home appliances in a second version of Cash for Clunkers. Money for the program comes from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act –– the federal stimulus legislation approved by Congress this year.

“The Department of Energy sees this program as a strong opportunity to save energy and to stimulate the economy locally,” said Jen Stutsman, an agency spokeswoman.

The program will be administered by the states, which are still developing plans for releasing money through the appliance rebate program. The program will start in some states before Thanksgiving, offering consumers from $50 to $200 on a wide array of appliances.

In the midst of the worse economic downturn in decades, retailers and manufacturers are hopeful the rebates will entice Americans to shop for heavy-duty home goods.

“Generally, they think it’s a great idea,” said Maureen Riehl, a spokeswoman for the National Retail Federation.

Appliance salespeople around Rhode Island are of two minds, with some sounding optimistic and others wondering whether the government is devoting enough money to spur demand for such high-priced goods. That $300 million works out to about a buck a person, which is essentially how the money will be divvied up among the 50 states and six U.S. territories.

“We’ve already had people ask about it,” said David Exter, comptroller of S&W Television & Appliance in East Providence. “I do think it will help the business.”

Denise Alexandre, co-owner of Danny’s TV and Appliance in North Smithfield, said the program would be better suited to her business if it included another high-priced item –– TVs. “It would be better if it was cash for clunkers for TVs,” Alexandre said. “We sell a lot more televisions than appliances, and the TV market is more competitive.”

The Energy Department recommended the states focus on heating and cooling equipment, appliances and water heaters, as those products offer the greatest energy-saving potential.

The rebates will be good on appliances that carry an Energy Star rating, including: central air conditioners, heat pumps, boilers, furnaces, room air conditioners, clothes washers, dishwashers, freezers, refrigerators and water heaters. The federal government developed Energy Star to certify and label products meeting certain energy-efficiency criteria.

“APPLIANCES CONSUME a huge amount of our electricity, so there’s enormous potential to both save energy and save families money every month,” said Energy Secretary Steven Chu, in a statement released when the program was announced in July.

Replacing an eight-year-old clothes washer with a new one can save $78 in electricity a year, according to the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers.

Buying an Energy Star-rated refrigerator rather than the same-sized conventional model can save $114 annually in electricity costs, according to the federal government’s energy-use calculator.

Unlike the $2.9-billion Cash for Clunkers program, intended to prop up the automobile industry, a program that the federal government oversaw, the Obama administration chose to let states run the appliance-rebate program. Already, 25 states including Rhode Island run rebate programs for energy-efficient appliances, and the thinking is that they can easily adapt those efforts to the stimulus program.

A spokeswoman for the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers said many states have the experience needed to manage the rebates.

“They know what to do,” said Jill Notini, the manufacturers’ spokeswoman.

Under the program, the states will have until 2012 to disburse the money, but the Obama administration urges that the money be pushed out to consumers as quickly as possible.

The states received 10 percent of their money Aug. 15, after they submitted letters of interest to the Energy Department. The department will distribute the remainder of the money after states submit plans for how they will administer the programs.

The states have until Oct. 15 to submit their plans, and the department wants to release the remaining money by Nov. 30.

The federal rebates can piggyback on rebate programs already in place for energy-saving appliances.

For instance, National Grid currently offers its Rhode Island and Massachusetts customers a $50 reward for turning in their old second refrigerators and freezers. No purchase is necessary for the reward, funds for which come from money generated as a set-aside on electric bills. The $50 offer is good until Nov. 30. A reduced offer is available in December.

Most states are expected to require people to trade in an appliance to qualify for the new rebate.

“The most important part of this plan is to replace the appliances that are not energy efficient,” said Charlie Hawkins, who’s in charge of planning and outreach for Rhode Island’s Office of Energy Resources.

One issue that could hinder the appliance-rebate program’s impact is that consumers tend to buy such goods during a home renovation or when an appliance breaks down.

“Our industry very closely follows what’s happening in the housing industry,” said Notini, the manufacturers’ spokeswoman. “2005 was the last year we saw growth.”

Cash-strapped Americans are putting off big building projects and have been more inclined recently to repair faulty appliances rather than replace them.

Shipments of washers, dryers, refrigerators, ovens and other such home goods dropped 10 percent in 2008 and are down 15 percent through this point of the current year, according to the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers.

“It’s quiet,” said Daniel Alexandre of Danny’s TV and Appliance in North Smithfield. “If no one is buying new houses, no one is buying new appliances.”

But service calls are holding steady.

“Service [business] is always there,” he said.

Now, industry members will wait to see whether the sales end of the business will turn upward.

“We hope this will entice people to buy,” said Notini, the manufacturers’ spokeswoman.

pgrimald@projo.com