The Senior Minister of State for Sustainability and the Environment (MSE), Dr Amy Khor, shared an exciting announcement during the Budget 2024 Debate on 4 Mar.
In case you missed out, Dr Khor said that, in collaboration with the National Environment Agency and Singapore’s National Water Agency, PUB, MSE will give out $300 worth of vouchers for those of us living in HDBs, to use on energy- and water-saving appliances starting 15 Apr.
Here’s what you need to know about the vouchers.
Climate Friendly Households Programme (CFHP)
Do you remember participating in the Climate Friendly Households Programme (CFHP) in November 2020?
As we were still trying to work through the pandemic, this programme was underway, but not everyone could enjoy it.
Only folks who live in one- to three-room HDB flats got the $225 worth of vouchers for a selected few products.
MSE noticed the low uptake in the programme’s 2020 roll-out. Out of the 900,000 e-vouchers available to be redeemed under the programme, only about 23,000 of them were used.
They didn’t want you to miss out and realised that the lack of appeal may be due to certain limitations in the programmes.
Therefore, during the debate, Dr Khor announced the expansion of the programme. The first expansion update is the amount – it’s raised from $225 to $300. This is in line with rising costs of appliances.
As many as 1.1 million HDB households get to enjoy spending this amount, and they can do so any time until 31 Dec 2027. Those who have just bought an HDB flat and are expected to collect their keys in 2027 can also get the vouchers.
How about the 23,000 of you who used the vouchers that were given out in 2020’s CFHP? Don’t worry, you’re still part of the update and you can enjoy the $300 vouchers.
Does the increase in amount mean I can spend on more things? That’s right. More appliances are covered under the new programme. Unlike last time, there’s no fixed budget that you need to stick to – per type of product.
It used to be that you’re only allowed to spend only $25 out of the $225 worth of vouchers on LED lights. Now, you can spend any amount out of the given $300 vouchers on LED lights.
It’s more useful because, who knows, you might want to spend more on lights than on your energy-efficient fridge, and now there’s nothing stopping you (except the $300 limit).
This spending freedom is reflected through the change in voucher denominations. Like CDC vouchers, they come in denominations of $2, $5, $10 and $50. For example, simply click the $10 and $5 vouchers to pay for a $15 LED light.
Saving on Utility Bills
Dr Khor said that the CFHP serves as enhanced support “for households wishing to be more energy- and water-efficient” since it “will also help lower their utility bills”.
She added that through CFHP, more households would want to choose appliances that are resource-efficient over those that are not simply because there is a lower out-of-pocket expense.
Now comes the tricky part, what exactly can the $300 be spent on? What is considered “resource-efficient”?
Here’s the list:
Dr Khor said that the 10 types of products seen above are those that you use daily, and they make up about 60 per cent of your electricity consumption and about 90 per cent of your water consumption.
These numbers are also assuming that you use water and electricity like an average household would.
As mentioned, residents can start claiming their vouchers from 15 Apr by logging on to RedeemSG and using your Singpass account.
Where can you redeem them?
Simply make your way down to any of these retailers: Courts, Best Denki, FairPrice, Giant, Cold Storage, Audiohouse, Bathroom Warehouse, Chuan Heng Hardware Trading, Gain City, Harvey Norman, Mega Discount Store, Sheng Siong, T.S. Yong Trading and Woodlands Domestic Electrical.
Can’t remember? RedeemSG has got you covered. Click on the “Where to use” tab under Climate Vouchers after you log in, or ask the retailers that you visit when you go shopping for appliances.
Click here for more information on redemption and retailers.