Eager Texans exhausted all reservations for the state’s appliance rebate program just six hours after the reservations first became available.

Reservations for rebates in Texas’ version of the Cash for Appliances program first became available Wednesday morning and by 2 p.m. CST none remained, reported KPRC-TV in Houston.

The state is tapping into $23.3 million in federal stimulus funding to offer a rebate program to help residents replace older, inefficient appliances with energy-efficient appliances.

The mail-in rebates will apply to eligible appliances purchased between April 16 and April 25.

Consumers had been urged to reserve rebates by calling 877-780-3039 or registering online at www.texaspowerfulsmart.org.

Shortly after the phone lines and Web site opened, many people were unable to get to the portion of the Web site to reserve the rebate and got busy signals when trying by phone, KPRC reported.

The Texas Comptroller’s Office said it was experiencing a high volume of traffic and encouraged people to keep trying.

Officials with Texas Powerful Smart said its Web site had received more than 19.5 million hits by 10 a.m., averaging 1,700 page views a second and 1,000 calls per minute to the hot line.

“There’s been unprecedented response to the reservation system to either the online system or the 800 number,” said R.J. DeSilva with the Texas Comptroller’s Office. “People need to be patient and keep trying.”

DeSilva said the online reservation system was temporarily made unavailable Wednesday morning in order to improve the server. It was back in service for limited traffic by 12:15 p.m.

But once those troubles were ironed out, the reservations went fast.

While there are six types of appliances covered in the Texas appliance rebate program, consumers may only get two appliance rebates per household and they have to be for two different appliances.

By exhausting its program, Texas joins Minnesota and Iowa among states that saw their programs fill up after less than one day. Rhode Island lasted a bit longer, stretching into a second day before filling up.

Only people who reserve their rebate are guaranteed to get one, and consumers do have to replace an older appliance with a new, more efficient one.

With the nearly $300 million in federal stimulus funding being apportioned to states based on population size, Texas will be running the second-largest Cash for Appliances rebate program in the nation. Only California, with $35.3 million, is receiving more for its program.

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