What Is It and How Does It Work?
In the average U.S. home, 20 percent of energy consumption can be attributed to appliances and home electronics. There are many options to reduce this energy use and save money. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Energy Star program provides a list of qualified appliances and electronics that have been shown to use less energy than standard products. Products that receive the Energy Star label will save you energy and money. They include appliances such as clothes washers, dehumidifiers, dishwashers, freezers, refrigerators, room air cleaners and purifiers, and water heaters, as well as home electronics devices such as audio equipment, televisions, DVD players, and computers.
Every appliance has two price tags: the sticker price you pay at the store, and the price you pay in utility bills to operate it. If you buy an appliance with a low sticker price, you can end up paying more on utility bills if it isn't energy efficient. Home appliances in the United States are governed by energy-efficiency standards that establish rules of maximum energy consumption for different types of products. Appliances should include an EnergyGuide label that gives an estimate of how much energy each product uses, along with high and low levels of consumption for similar products. This should give you a sense of how energy efficient a product is compared to other models.
What Are the Options?
Clothes Washers
Clothes Washers present a big opportunity for savings – the average family in the U.S. washes nearly 400 loads of laundry per year and washing machines use both water and electricity. nergy Star–qualified washing machines can reduce your utility bills by about $135 per year.
Dehumidifiers
Energy Star–qualified dehumidifiers are 15 percent more energy efficient than standard models. Dehumidifiers include several energy-consuming components (refrigeration coils, compressors, and fans), and Energy Star models operate all of these on less energy, saving $20 per year versus standard models.
Dishwashers
Energy-efficient dishwashers use less water and energy than standard products. If you have an old dishwasher that was made before 1994, an Energy Star model will save $40 per year on utilities and 10 gallons of water per wash cycle.
Freezers and Refrigerators
New-model freezers and refrigerators have upgraded insulation and more efficient compressors than older models. Energy Star–qualified freezers use 10 percent less energy than standard models, while refrigerators are 20 percent more efficient.
Air Purifiers
Energy Srar air purifiers remove airborne particulate matter while using 40 using less energy than standard models.
Other Home Electronics
Home electronics such as audio/video equipment, battery chargers, computers, cordless phones, displays, power adapters, cable boxes, and televisions are also rated by Energy Star and can contribute to energy savings.
What Else Should I Know?
Many home appliances and electronics continue to use power, even when they are turned off. These Energy Vampires slowly suck electricity from your outlets, even in standby mode, and the wasted energy can add up. U.S. homes waste $100 on average per year due to energy vampires. Some of the primary culprits include laptop chargers, cell phones, ipods, and power tools. There are a few strategies that can help limit the amount of electricity you waste due to energy vampires. ENERGY STAR qualified electronics use less energy, so will generally cost less to operate on standby power. Setting your computer and monitor on power management can help prevent them from becoming energy vampires by putting them in sleep mode when they are not in use. Plugging electronics into a power strip is a useful way to save energy because it is easy to turn off the entire strip when the electronics are not in use. And always remember to unplug cell phone chargers, camera chargers, battery chargers, and power adapters when they are not in use.Where Can I Get More Information?
U.S. Department of Energy
Energy Star