Energy Efficiency Around the Home: Reading the Energy Guide Label
Making your home energy efficient is a win-win proposition. Energy efficient homes save money and help the environment.
| Additional Resources Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs LED Holiday Lights Pellet Stoves Fireplaces Green Home |
Childhood lessons learned, such as turning off the lights when you leave the room and closing the door when you enter and leave the house, are by far the least expensive and most energy efficient activities practiced by family members every day.
Consumers who wish to move past basic energy efficiency lessons also need not fret. During the past two decades or so, technological improvements in common household appliances has transformed the appliance market. Color preferences aside, today's consumer appliances are greener than they have ever been. Consumers now have the option of taking a step by step approach to improving their home's energy efficiency rating by replacing their old appliances, as the situation warrants, with the newer energy efficient models. When shopping, consumers also should be aware of different labeling systems.
The first label is the 'EnergyGuide', or big yellow label with black writing attached to the appliance. Appliance manufacturers are required by law to place them on refrigerators, freezers, dishwashers, clothes washers, water heaters, furnaces, boilers, central air conditioners, room air conditioners, heat pumps and pool heaters. The label provides information about the amount of energy and the electricity costs associated with using the appliance over the course of a year.
The appliance could also have an "Energy Star" label, meaning the United States Environmental Protection Agency certifies it as among the most efficient of all the energy efficient models.
Once know, consumers can take this information to determine the true costs associated with purchasing and operating an appliance. For example, anyone in the market for an electric hot water heater might look at two different models.
| Retail | (kwh/year) | Retail + 5(Operating Cost) | |
| Model 1 | $399 | ||
| Model 2 | $650 |
Model 1 retails for $399 and costs $350/year to operate. Model 2 retails for $650 costs $275/year to operate. Over the course of the water heater's five year tank warranty, Model 1 costs $2,149 and Model 2 costs $2,025, meaning the more expensive water heater in the store really costs less over the course of five years.
© 2000. Patricia A. Michaels.