Ontarians who buy certain energy-efficient products will get a tax break, Premier Dalton McGuinty announced Wednesday.

For a one-year period starting July 19, the Liberal government is eliminating the provincial sales tax on such products as light bulbs and home appliances that have the Energy Star rating.

The tax break could add up to an eight-per-cent reduction in the cost of energy-efficient products such as refrigerators, dishwashers, freezers and room air conditioners.

Homeowners will also get up to $5,000 to upgrade home insulation and heating systems to energy-efficient standards under a Home Energy Retrofit Program.

"We want to drill right into people's homes and make it financially wise for them to go out and buy energy-efficient appliances or to proceed with a retrofit," McGuinty told CBC Radio's Metro Morning host Andy Barrie Wednesday morning.

The initiatives could help those living in a typical 25-year-old home reduce energy use by 35 per cent, McGuinty said.

Conservative critic Tim Hudak, however, said the tax holiday announcement is reminiscent of a similar tax rebate program on Energy Star products that the Liberals cancelled when they took office.

"The Liberals said that was wrong so they scrapped it, so for four years people have been paying taxes on these appliances," said Hudak.

But the Liberals said their program is an improvement, since it covers a higher number of appliances and is a direct reduction at the cash register rather than a rebate.

McGuinty's announcement is part of the rollout of the Liberal government's pre-election environment plan.

On Tuesday, McGuinty unveiled a five-year, $650-million fund supporting the creation of jobs that help the province's auto sector to develop and manufacture green cars, fuel and other technologies.

The Liberals have vowed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the province to six per cent below 1990 levels by 2014.