Smart Energy: Kitchen appliances that save you 'green'

Save the planet. Go Green. Reduce your carbon footprint. It seems every company and organization is jumping on the bandwagon to be more environmentally friendly. Manufacturers of kitchen and laundry room appliances can justly claim to be at the forefront of the movement.

PHOTO COURTESY OF GE

GE’s line of Café Appliances, based on the kind found in restaurant kitchens, includes Energy Star-rated refrigerators and dishwashers. GE received a 2011 Sustained Excellence Award from the U.S. Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Agency.

PHOTO COURTESY OF WHIRLPOOL

An Energy Star-rated dishwasher, such as this model from Whirlpool, will save you both electricity and water — as well as the time you’d spend washing dishes by hand.

Efforts to save energy — mostly electricity — are not new. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy developed Energy Star ratings 20 years ago to help consumers judge how much energy new products can save.
Better technology that uses less electricity to produce power, and monitoring devices that put water heaters or refrigerators on standby mode when the energy is not needed, are only a couple of ways energy can be saved. Everything from building standards to changing light bulbs is included.
Energy Star takes credit for saving $18 billion a year in energy costs today, according to the government Energy Star website, which offers homeowners tips and explanations about the program. You can find a list of Energy Star-rated appliances at energystar.gov. The Energy Star voluntary labeling program is tiered for some appliances, with good, better and best ratings for savings.
Education and Costs
"A lot of people who come in to buy appliances are aware of Energy Star, but they do not know what it means, so we do a lot of educating the public," said John Carney, appliance sales specialist for Lowe’s home improvement center in Paramus. (Carney noted that the Paramus Lowe’s, one of 2,000 in the country, is tucked behind the Toys R Us on Route 4.)
Refrigerators, washers, dryers and water heaters cost more when they first became available in energy-efficient models, but prices came down as the new appliances become more popular.
"Even if they cost more initially, the amount of money that can be saved in the years of use is substantial," Carney said. "Clothes washers that used to use 40 or 50 gallons of water now use 12 to 18 gallons and do bigger loads. The standard phrase is that you can save more water in a year with a new washer than what you will drink in a lifetime."
"Also, replacing a 15-year-old refrigerator can reduce the cost of operation from $150 to $200 a year down to $1 a week," he added.
Conserve Water, Too
Saving water is as important as saving electricity — the two go hand-in-hand, if you are talking about saving the electricity or gas to heat the water. Dishwashers can save both money and energy, said William G. Volz, contractor sales manager for Oberg & Lindquist Corp., Westwood (obergand lindquist.com).
"Most people today are concerned with our natural resources and how to save them," he said. "Water, being one of our most valuable resources, is where people are most concerned.
"Dishwashers that 10 or 15 years ago would use upwards of 18 gallons of water during a normal wash cycle are using as little as three gallons today. Miele, for one, uses Auto Sensor Technology that sets cleaning intensity and duration of wash time for optimum results."
"Refrigerators are another area where people can save on energy costs, by buying models classified as Energy Star-rated," Volz added. "By replacing an older model from the 1980's, you can save more than $100 a year; replace one from the 1970's and you can save more than $200 a year."
An Energy Star-rated refrigerator can save more than $165 over its lifetime compared to one that isn’t, because an Energy Star unit is 20 percent more efficient.
HOW THEY EARN THE LABEL:
Products can earn the ENERGY STAR label by meeting the energy efficiency requirements set forth in ENERGY STAR product specifications. The EPA establishes these specifications based on six key principles:
* Product categories must contribute significant energy savings nationwide.
* Qualified products must deliver the features and performance demanded by consumers, in addition to increased energy efficiency.
* If the qualified product costs more than a conventional, less-efficient counterpart, purchasers will recover their investment in increased energy efficiency through utility bill savings, within a reasonable period of time.
* Energy efficiency can be achieved through broadly available, non-proprietary technologies offered by more than one manufacturer.
* Product energy consumption and performance can be measured and verified with testing.
* Labeling would effectively differentiate products and be visible for purchasers.
MORE WAYS TO SAVE
* Invest in a dishwasher — it uses less water than hand washing.
* Do not rinse dishes first. It actually makes your dishwasher function less efficiently.
* Do full loads in both the dishwasher and clothes washer.
* Change the dishwasher filter frequently.
* Don’t keep the refrigerator or freezer too cold.
* Make sure refrigerator doors seal tightly.
* Use a range with various-sized heating elements to fit both small and large pans.
* Make sure the kitchen, like the rest of the house, is properly insulated.