As discussed in my previous blogs, the biggest energy hogs in your home are heating and cooling, followed by lighting and appliances. Today’s blog focuses on eco-friendly home appliances, such as –
- Refrigerators
- Ovens
- Microwaves
- TVs
- DVD players
- Printers
- Computers
- heating elements
- electric kitchen gadgets
- motors
- swimming pool heaters
- hot tub heaters
- outdoor grills
- small electric devices like clocks
Over the last 100 years, appliances have changed the way we spend our time at home. Â Chores that used to take hours can now be done in minutes by using electricity instead of human energy.
In recent years, home appliances have become green appliances i.e. more energy efficient – due in part to consumer pressure.
According to Energy Star ® a refrigerator made before 1980 used an average of 2,200 kWh per year; in 2008, refrigerators which were Energy Star rated used only 537 kWh.
Energy-efficient appliances are eco-friendly home appliances.
How to Tell if it’s an Eco-Friendly Home Appliance
When you buy an appliance, it should have an energy rating.
The system is different depending on where you live – below are the guides used in the USA and Europe. Most countries use some form of energy rating in
In the US, look at the yellow EnergyGuide label.  It tells you the Energy Efficiency Rating (EER) of the appliance – how much it costs you to operate it. The more energy-efficient an appliance is, the less it costs to run, and the lower your utility bills and the better for the environment.
Energy Guide (ftc.gov)
Most European countries use this energy label – always try to buy eco-friendly home appliances rated A.
Don’t buy a home appliance purely on price and features.
Remember you’ll save money when you use less energy with an eco-friendly home appliance.
Use the Energy Guide to easily compare similar products and find out exactly what it will cost you to run the appliance – wow!
Take advantage of all the information you are offered so that you can easily find eco-friendly appliances!
Clare , Here in Oz we have a star rating on most of our larger appliances . It is placed on the front lefthand corner . For instance with fridges , you just walk along the displays to see how many stars the product has , then check the features of the items that interest you .
Australia has, to my mind, long had an excellent reputation for being a global leader in environmental issues and awareness. Perhaps one of the ways the country has achieved so much, is by making it so easy for consumers to buy eco-friendly products, as you showed in your example. I wish that approach would spread more widely – accompanied by information/education of course. Thanks for the great example!
Hi Green Goddess,
As you go through your advice for saving money with green appliances in your home, will you do perhaps something like a weekly appliance review spotlight? Review the top 3 and worst 3 green appliances and include a like to say Amazon or wherever to purchase one of the 3 good choices? It would be really helpful to synthesize that for your readers. Thanks!
Happy Dating and Relationships,
April Braswell
Absolutely April, I’ve been doing reviews all this week (my brain is full of energy statistics and model numbers), and I will offer this very soon!
Thanks for your comment!
I had no idea how luky we are in the U.S. to have the Energy Guide labels on most of the appliances we purchase. Sure makes it easier to determine how much an appliance will cost to operate.
Michael
I’ve seen a lot of people in my part of the country get on an energy companies equal pay plan where they pay the same amount each month. As it becomes a planned bill with a fixed amount they overlook the fact they could lower the bill.
I didn’t know about equal payment plans – you’re right, they completely discourage any reduction in usage. Thanks for letting me know!
I am moving to Costa Rica and it will be interesting to see if it is possible to get this information there!
Sonya Lenzo