How to Buy an Energy- Efficient Home Appliance

You go shopping for a new refrigerator, and you’re on a budget. The best buy is the ‘fridge with the lowest sales price, right? Not necessarily, If you buy the lowest-priced refrigerator, you may end up spending more than if you buy a more expensive one. The reason? The cost of owning a home appliance has three components; the initial purchase price, the cost of repairs and maintenance, and the cost to operate it.

To figure how much you’ll spend over the lifetime of the appliance, you have to look at all these costs. The appliance with the lowest initial purchase price, or even the one with the best repair record, isn’t necessarily the one that costs the least to operate.

You can learn about the energy efficiency of an appliance that you’re thinking about buying through the yellow-and-black energy guide label it displays. The FTC’s Appliance Labeling Rule requires appliance manufacturers to put these labels on: refrigerators, freezers, dishwashers, clothes washers, water heaters, furnaces, boilers, Central air conditioners, room air conditioners, heat pumps, and Pool heaters.

The law requires that the labels specify; The capacity of the particular model. For refrigerators, freezers, dishwashers, clothes washers and water heaters, the estimated annual consumption of the model. For air conditioners, heat pumps, furnaces, boilers and pool heaters, the energy efficiency rating. The range of estimated annual energy consumption, or energy ratings, of comparable appliances. Some appliances also feature the Energy Star logo, which means that the appliance is significantly more energy efficient that the average comparable model. For more information on the Energy Star program, operated by the Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency, visit the EnergyStar website at www.energystar.gov.

For an Energy-Smart Deal on your next appliance
· Read the Energy Guide label.
· Compare the energy use of competing models.
· Estimate their differences in energy costs
· Consider both purchase price and estimated energy use when deciding which brand and model to buy.