Article

Use energy efficient appliances

Publication Date: January 18, 2007
Source: SPEC

To use energy efficient appliance, you have look for the ENERGY STARŽ label. Fortunately ENERGY STARŽ is the symbol of ultimate energy efficiency recognized around the world. Products bearing the ENERGY STAR symbol help you save energy and money, and protect our environment.

ENERGY STARŽ qualified electric systems provide energy savings as high as 70 to 75 percent when compared with conventional models.

In an average household, the combined energy consumption of home electronics(when turned off) is equivalent to that of a large refrigerator.

In adddition to helping saving money, high energy efficiency household appliances and other everyday-use products help protect our environment by reducing GHGs emissions that contribute to climate change. It also helps lower other pollutants that cause urban smog and acid rain.

Perhaps you have already seen the ENERGY STARŽ symbol but did not know what it meant. Any product or piece of equipment that displays the ENERGY STARŽ symbol means that it is a top energy performer and meets stringent energy-consuming specifications.

Natural Resources Canada's Office of Energy Efficiency promotes the international ENERGY STARŽ symbol in Canada and monitors its use. If you want to get more information about ENERGY STARŽ, visit www.energystar.gc.ca

You can find products bearing the ENERGY STARŽ symbol for the kitchen, the laundry and furnace rooms, the family room and home office as well as for lighting throughout the house.


Refrigerator and freezer



Increase the efficiency of your refrigerator and freezer



Keep them away from heat source(direct sunlight, furnace vents and radiators) and appliances(oven, stove and dishwaher) that can make them work harder to stay cool. At the same time, check the temperature settings.

Keep your refrigerator temperature 1.7 °C (35 °F) and 3.3 °C (38 °F) and the freezer compartment at -18 °C (0 °F) for maximum efficiency and safety.

Look for an ENERGY STARŽ-qualified refrigerator



Look for an ENERGY STARŽ-qualified refrigerator if you're in the market for a new one. For example, a 2004 model uses less than half the electricity of a unit built 10 years ago and can reduce GHGs by more than 0.2 tonne each year. And If you were to replace your 1984 model refrigerator with an ENERGY STAR qualified 2002 model, you would save more than 1,026kWh of enegy , for a total saving of up to $82 a year.

“Fridge buy-back program”(BC hydro)


BC Hydro will pickup and recycle your old, inefficient second fridge and give you $30 for it.
Your old fridge is worth $30 in cold hard cash. For free pick-up of your second working fridge, call 604 881-HELP or 1 866 516-HELP(4357) outside the Lower Mainland.
If you need more information, visit http://www.bchydro.com/powersmart/fridge/fridge8437.html

Maintain your refrigerator and freezer for better energy use



Clean the refrigerator heating coils regularly. When you clean them, check the condition of the coils and components at the back of the unit. Keep the rubber door seals clean and tight. They should hold a piece of paper snugly. If the paper slips out easily, replace the seal.

Dishwasher



Select the dishwasher's no-heat or air-drying cycle



Turn off the electric element that heats the interior of the unit and causes the water to evaporate. It is easy to do and will save on your Hydro bill. Because about 80 percent of the total energy used by dishwashers goes towards heating the water. So the best way to improve the efficiency of a dishwasher is to reduce the amount of water needed to clean the dishes. Most new dishwashers have a built-in booster heater, which raises the water temperature of the water during wash cycles to 60°C to kill germs and cut grease. While this feature adds somewhat to the dishwasher's electric demand, it enables you to lower the thermostat setting on you hot water heater to 55°C. Each 5.5°C reduction in the water heater temperature setting will save up to 13 percent of your hot water heating bill and also reduce the danger of scalding.

Scrape off your dishes instead of rinsing them and run the dishwasher only when it is full

Look for an ENERGY STARŽ-qualified dishwasher



ENERGY STARŽ qualified dishwashers are 25 percent more economical to operate.


washing machine


Avoid over-drying clothes



Clothes should dry in 40 to 60 minutes. Better yet, hang clothes outdoors to dry when the weather permits. If you are buying a new dryer, look for one with a moisture sensor. It will turn off automatically when clothes are dry.

Rinse in cold water and wash in warm<



Clothes rinsed in cold water come out as clean as those rinsed in warm water. Washing in warm rather than hot water uses 50 percent less energy, and your clothes will come out just as well rinsed and, depending on the fabric, less wrinkled.

Look for an ENERGY STARŽ-qualified washing machine



Front-loading clothes washers generally use just one-third the amount of water that a top-loading washing machine uses. Because the drum rotates on a vertical axis, the drum in a front-loading machine can also spin faster than in a top-loading machine. And front-load washing machines or water-efficiency top-loading models that are ENERGY STARŽ-qualified use about 40 percent less water per load and less detergent than regular top-loading washers.

Table : Comparison of non-qualified top-loading model and energy star qualified front-loading modelThe ENERGY STARŽ symbol can be displayed in various ways:

 
Non-qualified

top-loading model
Energy Star 
qualified

front-loading model

Annual energy consumption

Annual energy cost

Lifetime energy cost

876 kWh

876x$ 0.10=$87.60

$87.60x14=$1,226.40

275 kWh

275x$0.10=$27.50

$27.50x14=$385.00

* savings generated by purchasing an ENERGY STAR qualified clothes washer can run as high as $841.40 over the life expectancy(14years) of the appliance.

Lighting


Install outdoor automatic timers



You won't have to remember to turn your outdoor lights on in the evening and off during the day. Installing a timer can cut your outdoor lighting energy use by up to half. Or use motion detectors that switch on automatically when people move close to them and swith off after a few minutes.

Look for ENERGY STARŽ-qualified light bulbs



The amount of electricity needed to light a Canadian home results in almost one third of a tonne of GHGs each year. By replacing five of the mose used standard bulbs in your home with ENERGY STARŽ-qualified compact fluorescent light bulbs, you can reduce your GHGs and save about $ 30 each year.

Use compact fluorescent lights



Compact fluorescent lights use 70 per cent less energy and last 10 times longer.
If every household in Canada changed just one traditional incandescent light bulb to an ENERGY STARŽ-qualified compact fluorescent bulb, Canadian would save over $73 million in energy costs every year. It would also reduce GHGs by 397,000 tonnes per year-the same as taking 66,000 cars off the road.

Home and office



Turn off lights and equipment when a work area isn't being used



Even better, if you don't need them, don't turn the lights on in the first place. Natural light saves energy and is easier on your eyes.

And a computer that runs 24 hours a day uses between $75 and $120 worth of electricity each year.

Look for ENERGY STARŽ-qualified equipment



You can save about $ 15 on your annual energy bill with an ENERGY STARŽ-qualified computer in standby mode.

Buy a monitor that is the right size for your needs



Generally, the larger the monitor, the more energy it consumes, with the exception of an LCD monitor.

LCD monitors can be up to 65 percent more energy efficient than conventional cathode ray tube(CRT) monitors, not only in sleep modes, but also in their in-use modes.

Ensure your computer system is set up to use its energy-saver option



If you buy an ENERGY TARŽ-qualified computer, the power-saving feature is automatically set.

Use as little paper as possible



Printing, photocopying and faxing use energy. Use e-mail more often- it is quicker, less expensive and healthier for the environment. Also use recycled paper whenever possible