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Choosing Energy Efficient Appliances

Part of helping your new solar home run efficiently is choosing the right appliances. Many manufacturers are designing and building energy efficient appliances for the home. Energy efficient appliances are not only kind to the environment with lower emissions and energy consumption, but they can also be gentler on your wallet.

Energy Efficient appliances are cost comparable to other appliances and will save money in the long run. The cost of running an appliance over its lifetime is called the second price tag. The illustration on the right shows how much you can save. For each appliance type, the figure indicates how many energy dollars can be saved during the life of the appliance, simply by choosing the most efficient model rather than the least efficient.

Light Bulbs

The kind of light bulb you choose can also have a large impact on efficiency. Compact fluorescent lamps ( CFLs), deliver the same light output as incandescent light bulbs but use 75 percent less energy and last 10 times longer .

LED (Light Emitting Diodes) use even less energy than CFLs and have a much longer lifetime. For example a 60 W incandescent light bulb is equivalent to a 13 W CFL and a 2 W LED. Although LEDs are more expensive, the price is dropping rapidly.

Information from Office of Energy Efficiency, Government of Canada.

For more information on the Energuide rating for different appliances and help with choosing those that are the most efficient, please visit the following website:

http://oee.nrcan.gc.ca/energystar/english/consumers/light_basic_facts.cfm