Choose the right appliance for a green living!
September 13th 2010 23:16
Dishwashers.
Most of the energy consumed by the dishwasher is actually consumed by the water heater. The dishwasher itself will dictate the temperature setting of the water heater. A lot of the older dishwashers have to have a setting of 130 degrees farenhieght to get your dishes clean. Most of the newer dishwashers have a small water heater to raise the temperature to 140 degrees. Dishwashers conserve energy and water when using their low and medium cycles. Also they use a lot of energy on the drying cycle. It is not a bad idea to air dry your dishes instead of your dishwasher’s drying cycle. Also wash a full load instead of 3 or 4 dishes. If you only have a few dishes why not try it by hand.
Clothes washers
In the past 20 years the efficiency of a clothes washer has really increased. Horizontal axis washers use far less water than vertical machines. Vertical machines save 50- 75% of water and energy compared to horizontal machines. This is a really big step in the way we wash clothes. The horizontal machine is considerably more expensive than the vertical machine. It will pay for itself after a few good years of usage. It would probably recover it’s own cost by saving energy and water consumption. Clothes washers often perform as well with cold water as compared to warm or hot water .To get the best results use a detergent designed for cold water. Full clothes washers work at there best. Use the water level control on the washer.(small, medium. large) Some new washers do this automatically.
Clothes dryer
Line drying laundry is the most efficient way to save energy on clothes drying. Gas dryers operate more efficiently than electric dryers Electric dryers cost on average around 30-40 cents a load compared to an average of about 15 -20 cents on average for gas. that is not a whole lot of difference. Temperature- sensing dryers as well as humidity sensing dryers will save you money over timed dyers because they cut their selves off when they reach that certain point. Cleaning the dryers filter after each use minimizes the drying time. Every few months a dryer and it’s exhaust vent needs to be thoroughly cleaned. Piping the vent with smooth rigid pipe sealed well reduces the drying time over flexible ducting. Always dry full loads to save energy . Why would you bring the dryer to it’s fullest for one pair of pants or a towel?
Refrigerators and freezers
Refrigerators and freezers are large energy consumers. They consume so much energy because the are on 365 days a year. As with all the other appliances they also have become more efficient. They have better insulation and weatherstrip, better controls, bigger coils, and better motors. The way families and individuals sue their refrigerators and freezers can make a huge difference in energy consumption. Here are a few tips to help you out.
~ Keep freezers as full as possible.
~ Minimize opening their doors.
~ Clean the coils at least once a year.
Electronics
These are small appliances but they are responsable of about 20% of our energy consumption in our home. If you do look I did one night after everyone retired for the night I got up to talk a walk around the house. What I saw really astonished me. All of my light fixture were off so I didn’t have any of the main lights on in the house. When I walked around and seen all the many different electronic that were still drawing energy I said wow! It looked like I was walking around at a carnival. There were many different color leds and small lights every where. I then begin the next day to hook all my monitors and computers and anything that was attached to them on power strips so I could turn everything off. I also done this to my tvs and sattelite boxes and anything else that were hooked to them.I hope that these few points will helpe you out in the future.
Happy Conserving!
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