Energy Efficient Home Appliances

• Energy Star appliances are tested rigorously to prove they save energy. Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty Images

  Energy-efficient home appliances can save their owners large amounts of money in utility costs over their lifespans, making them not only a worthwhile investment but a potential cost-saving measure. Household appliance manufacturers now use the Energy Star international standard as a basis for testing energy-saving devices. The standard also makes energy-saving appliances easy to spot with a distinctive eye-catching logo.

The Energy Star Standard

• Energy Star products are based upon the national Energy Star standard as laid out by the EPA, or Environmental Protection Agency, which requires a product to undergo rigorous testing before it obtains the right to use the Energy Star logo. A product with an Energy Star logo indicates that it has the ability to perform to desired specifications in addition to being more energy efficient than its typical market rivals. Energy Star products are also typified by their ability to offset their initial investment price, which may be somewhat higher than the norm, by their lower costs over a long-term use model.

Using the Right Appliance for the Job

• The efficient use of home appliances means more than simply buying low-energy appliances; it also means using the correct appliance for the job. Consider for a moment the common household task of brewing a pot of tea, which requires an enormous amount of electrical energy to heat on the stove, particularly if you're using the old fashioned heating coil design; you just need to place your hands a few feet away from the burner to realize that not all of the heat is being directed into the water. The next option in this scenario is to heat the water for tea in the microwave, which, while potentially less energy consuming than a stove top burner, will still require the full amount of energy used by the microwave, which can be somewhat more than is necessary depending on the size of the model. The best option is to use an Energy Star electric tea kettle that has been specifically engineered to efficiently transfer energy directly to the water using the bare minimum of required power. Using this good, better, best approach to problem solving in your day-to-day home needs can offset a significant amount of your personal power usage.

Comparing Energy Star Appliance With Regular Applainces

• Some devices have a higher degree of difference between Energy Star power level usage and standard levels of energy use. For example, the power savings between a regular freezer chest and an Energy Star freezer chest can be quite minimal. On the other hand, devices such as washing machines can draw huge amounts of energy, with the gap in power consumption between regular units and Energy Star units being enormous. Ultimately, when deciding on which Energy Star appliances to purchase, you will need to judge each appliance based on its non-Energy Star peers in order to get the most for your money. Upgrading to newer technologies entirely also helps reduce the strain on utility budgets caused by high-drain devices; for example, cathode-ray tube television sets consume far more energy than their flat-screen LCD peers.