What are some of the impactful rebate trends for 2020?

Since the past few months, rebate organizations around the country are busy in updating their programs for 2020. There are some of the trends that are impactful and are going to be impactful in the year 2020.

In this blog, we will discuss four rebate trends that are going to work in your favor this year.

Here are those four rebates trends

1. Decrease in the LED rebate programs by 12%
2. Almost 76% of the US offers commercial lighting rebates
3. The pre-approval time for rebates are improving
4. A change to DLC 5.0 is anticipated

Now let’s discuss these trends in detail.

Decrease in the LED rebate programs by 12%

Generally, the prescriptive rebates for LED products drop by 10% each year, but in 2019, there was an average increase of rebates. But in 2020, the trends continued with a decrease of 12% in the rebate amounts across all the LED categories. There was a significant difference in the rebate trends for retrofit lamps versus fixtures.

• Retrofit lamps

Replacements screw-in lamps had the most significant drop of 27% last year. Linear tubes saw a decrease of 13%. This is the lowest drop they have experienced since the lamps entered the market.

• Fixtures

LED fixtures also experienced a decrease in rebate amounts in 2019, but in 2020 it leveled out. On average, rebate amounts for fixtures were only down to 5% over the past year. The rebates for fixtures can be high, so you must pay attention to any cost caps that may apply.

Almost 76% of the US offers commercial lighting rebates

The percentage of the US covered by active commercial lighting rebates keep changing based on the rebate funding levels and discounts added on programs. Over the past 11 years, the percentage has changed from a low of 68% to a high of 81%.

Currently, almost 76% of the US is covered by an active commercial lighting rebate program, which was 73% at the beginning of 2019.

The pre-approval for the rebates are improving

The pre-approval of the rebate is required in a majority of prescriptive and custom rebate products across North America. In the pre-approval process, the programs review the application, verify the eligibility of the products, schedule inspections, and reserve the funding.

Since thousands of rebate applications are filed every year, we keep track of the time of pre-approval for the projects. The pre-approval process generally takes 29 days. But for the past two years, the pre-approval process duration has come down to 18 days. There are various reasons for this improvement, such as increased use of electronic applications, streamlined processes, and fewer applications for the utility to process.

Although the average pre-approval time is 18 days, the project can still take months to get the pre-approval. Therefore, it is advisable to allocate yourself enough time to secure the pre-approval.

A change to DLC 5.0 is anticipated by 2021

The Design Lights Consortium (DLC) recently came up with the DLC 5.0 and 5.1 technical requirements. These changes will bring increased efficiency of products, controllability of the LEDs, as well as improved light quality. All the current products will be automatically updated to 5.0. All the products that are not updated to 5.0 will be disabled by December 31^st.

To receive an incentive, lighting rebates require an active DLC. Most of the programs of 2020 are already updated to DLDCD 4.4, and it will remain for the rest of the year. But the real problem may occur in 2021 as the 4.4 products will be delisted by the end of 2020. If you are looking for a long term project that will cross over the calendar year, make sure to use the product that meets DLC 5.0 or else, finish the project before the year ends.

Final Words

You can take advantage of these rebate trends in 2020. If you are planning a project and require help with estimating and filing the rebates, we can help you get the most money without any hassle.

Rayzlighting can help you create leads and increase your sales with rebates. We follow all the recent trends and can help you find and identify rebates for your customers. Get in touch with us today!