Stop throwing money down the drain with home appliance energy waste from old outdated appliances    

Water and energy vampires are wasting our money. This is the situation in most homes through out the US. Appliances left plugged in when not in use and old outdated appliances account for tens of millions of dollars wasted every year.  We will show you the problem and how to remedy it to lower your energy use and save you money.   

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Major Appliances:

• Refrigerator: Refrigerators are the largest home energy user next to pool pump/filters and hot tub heater/filters. Units older then 10 years old are just like throwing money away. A current standard model is more then twice as efficient and by getting an Energy Star rated appliance your saving go up exponentially.  This item alone can pay for it’s self in energy saving with in a few years. It is recommended that you by a refrigerator thermometer and keep it in the unit. Try to keep the units temperature in the range of 37 to 40 degrees. Also keep the coils on the bottom of the unit clean. This increases the unit’s ability to cool effectively.

• Clothes Washer/Dryers: Washing machines the next in line of energy users. Washer and dryer together account for approximately 15% of home energy use when compared to rest of the major appliances. A typical top loading washing machine that is 10 years old will use approximately 42 gallons of water to complete the wash cycles. A standard new unit today will take about 32 gallons of water and an Energy Star rated unit will take only 15 gallons of water and use less the 50% of the energy of the old unit. New designs in dryers and efficiency increases have made these new appliances run at about 35% better then the comparable models from 10 years ago.

• Dishwasher: Most all of the power consumed by this unit is for heating the water. To save money always make sure the dishwasher is full and run the shortest cycle as possible. Also try not to use the dry cycle. Let your dishes air dry by slightly opening the door of the unit when the washing is complete. Again as with other appliances. Replace this unit if it is older. New models use much less water and energy.

• Computers and Office Equipment: With computer being in over 90% of Us homes and almost 6 million people working from home and a regular basis it is very important to look at the computer energy use. The typical use of energy while the units are operating is quite low but it is the time that these machines are not in use when energy is being wasted. All office equipment should be hooked up to a power strip that has an on/off switch and the strip should be turned off when the equipment is not in use. This alone will save about 40% of the power these units use.

• Entertainment Equipment/Chargers: As mush as 75% of the powerused by these items is while the devices are off or not in use. The same rule applies here as to computer equipment. Use power strips that turn off and cut the power to these units. Preferably use a surge protected power strip to prevent damage from storms.  The number of electronic devices that are working their way into our homes in ever increasing and it is more important then ever to watch how we power them. IF NOT IN USE, UNPLUG IT.
  

General rule about any appliance are if it is more then 10 years old it probably uses much more energy then a new model sometime as much as 40% to 50% more energy. Energy Star Models for electronics and appliances are offered in almost every category and these items will save even more power. Look at the Energy usage labels carefully when buying new appliances. Sometime an appliance that cost just slightly more uses much less energy and will pay it’s self back in a very short time.

A general rule is if a new item can pay for it’s self with in 2.5 years from the energy savings alone it is worth replacing right now.

According to the US department of energy, appliance account for about 17% of your homes energy used. Buy using this guide you could possible cut 25% of the energy your home uses. This can account for hundreds of dollars every year in savings.

Resources for this article were obtained from the US Department of Energy. More information can be found at www.energysavers.gov.

By: Tom Corliss

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