How to Choose Eco Friendly Appliances  

As a part of the eco friendly movement, also referred to as the “green movement”, people now have all types of opportunity for promoting and supporting a healthy planet.  For instance, people can grow an organic garden or even choose natural skincare products.  In fact, eco friendly appliances are also sold, which are cost efficient to the consumer while also helping maintain a clean planet. 

However, because of tricky wording, it is important to distinguish appliances that are actually environmentally friendly from those only being marketed as such.  For this reason, when you get ready to purchase new appliances and you want to stick with a green product, it is essential that you pay attention to details and always read all the information for each “eco friendly” appliance. 

One of the most important things when buying eco friendly appliances is to look at the energy consumption.  Today, appliances with an “energy saver” or “energy star” label provide the consumer with more confidence that the appliance is in fact environmentally friendly by not using as much energy as a non-energy saver/star appliance.  In addition to the consumer enjoying a significant cost savings on monthly utility bills, this choice would also support the green movement. 

Some examples of how to make existing appliances more energy efficient and help new eco friendly appliances operate optimally are as follows:  

Refrigerator  

·         Adjust the temperature settings for the refrigerator based on season, which means to set the temperature colder during summer months whereas in the winter the temperature setting could be lowered 

·         Keep the freezer full of food or frozen water jugs 

·         Even if a new eco friendly refrigerator/freezer has a defrost feature, this should be done manually 

·         Vacuum accumulated dust, pet hair, and dirt from the coils on the back of the unit two to four times a year 

·         Never put warm or hot food inside the refrigerator 

·         Keep the energy saver switch off in the winter and on in the summer 

Stove 

·         Cook foods on lower temperatures and with the lids on 

·         The oven should only be preheated for baking 

·         Match the burner size to the pot or skillet size 

·         Self-cleaning ovens are more eco friendly because they have better insulation 

·         Solar and Hybrid solar ovens are the most energy efficient, using only the sun too cook 

Washing Machine and Dryer 

·         Always wash and dry full loads 

·         Whenever possible, avoid using hot water, which uses up to 90% of the energy required to operate the washing machine 

·         Always clean the lint trap after each load 

·         Front load washing machines and dryers are the best choice for eco friendly appliances 

Dishwasher 

·         Skip the pre-rinsing cycle, especially on a new eco friendly model in that it is merely a bonus feature and not essential 

·         Buy only the size of dishwasher actually needed 

·         When shopping, look for a dishwasher with a light wash or energy saver cycle 

·         Choose a dishwasher with an air-dry feature 

·         Buy a dishwasher with an internal water heater or hot water booster 

Computer 

·         Turning the monitor off each night before bed saves the same quantity of electricity as if printing more than 800 pages on a high quality laser printer