Choosing household products & appliances
Household appliances use 20% of your home’s energy. About 5% of that goes on running appliances on stand-by. In the early hours of the morning, microwaves, TVs and videos are silently sucking power out of electrical sockets while you sleep. If your appliances’ lights and clocks are on, they’re using power.
Turning off appliances at the wall when you’re not using them will make a noticeable saving to your energy bill over a year.
ENERGY STAR
New Zealand recently adopted the ENERGY STAR programme. ENERGY STAR is the global mark of energy efficiency. It is awarded to the most energy efficiency appliances and products. For more information about Energy Star, visit the website - www.energystar.govt.nz.
Energy rating stickers – look for the stars
When you’re buying a new appliance, look for the energy rating label with stars on. If you can’t see it, ask the retailer. The more stars on the label, the less energy the appliance needs to get the same performance level as a comparable model.
Choose the most energy efficient model that’s the right size for your needs and suits your budget.
Also look for the red energy consumption box – the number in this is the amount of electricity used to run the appliance over a typical year. The lower the number, the less it will cost to run and the lower the environmental impact.
New Zealand has new regulations that prevent the sale of the least energy-efficient appliances. This will raise the overall standard throughout the country. Minimum Energy Performance Standards (MEPS) were first introduced in 2002, eliminating the worst performers from the market.
In some cases, the best models of fridges and freezers use only half the energy of a model that just passes the MEPS.
To find out the star rating and energy consumption of an appliance go to the Australian Energy Rating site. The site also lists the most energy efficient appliances.
Fridges and freezers
After water heating, the fridge is the single biggest household energy user. A typical fridge uses between 600 and 900 kW a year.
Frost-free fridges are generally less efficient than cyclic defrost models. Cyclic defrost fridge/freezers are those which require the freezer to be manually defrosted. Single door fridge/ freezers are very efficient to run if defrosted regularly.
Washing machines
Use cold water to wash clothes, with an occasional hot wash to flush through the machine, for significant energy savings.
Water makes up a large part of the cost of running a washing machine. When you’re buying a new washing machine, check its water usage as well as the energy rating.
Although they aren’t mandatory in New Zealand yet, water efficiency labels are compulsory in Australia. They will start appearing on appliances in New Zealand and are worth looking at.
Front loading washing machines use less water and energy than top loaders.
Dryers
The best place to dry clothes is outside in the fresh air and sunshine, but sometimes this is impossible. Set up a covered outside area for clothes drying. Avoid drying clothes inside as they release moisture into the house.
When using a dryer, run it at night to benefit from a lower electricity tariff if available. Vent it to the outside so the moisture doesn’t make the house damp.