Parent Time

Our lights and appliances eat up about 230f household energy — a demand that keeps right on growing, thanks in part to our ever-expanding appetites for items like larger fridges. Between 1990 and 2002, the market share of the largest fridges more than quadrupled. But even if you’ve gone big, there are still other electrical savings to be found. Many appliances draw power even when switched off, as they run features such as LED lights and standby mode. Plugging those electronics into a power bar and turning it off when not needed can save you an extra 2 0n electricity. And a bit of appliance abstinence can go a long way: Using a clothesline will reduce your total home energy costs by about 5%.

Big move: EnergyStar appliances
When you shop for a new dishwasher or fridge, there’s both a sticker price and a hidden price to consider: the yearly cost of running your new appliance. An EnergyStar-rated 85 L Frigidaire washing machine, for instance, will use about $18 in power annually compared with $46 in electricity for an 84 L Amanda top-loader. Over an average 18-year life span, that Frigidaire will save you more than $500. But the federal government’s EnerGuide program tells us that the biggest savings come from replacing older appliances. A split refrigerator/freezer from the early ’80s uses about 1500 kWh of electricity annually compared with a similar model today that would use about 440 kWh — a 70% reduction that would save an Ottawa resident about $107 a year. (Don’t forget to check for an appliance recycling program in your municipality to ensure ozone- damaging chlorofluorocarbons are responsibly removed from fridges and freezers.)

Small steps
• Don’t position your fridge beside an oven or dishwasher, as it will have to work harder to stay cool.

• Use microwaves — or toaster ovens — to cook or reheat small meals. Microwaves use roughly 50 0.000000e+000ss electricity than an oven.

• About 900f the energy used in washing machines is for heating water, so use cold water to clean your clothes.

• Run your dishwasher full and set it to air-dry, and reduce its energy costs by about 10%.

• Tankless or on-demand water heaters heat water much the same way as coffee makers and are up to three times less wasteful. They can cost $2,000 to $3,000 to install, but can pay for themselves over their lifetime.

• Set your refrigerator at its optimum temperatures (3ºC/37ºF for the fridge and -18ºC /0ºF for the freezer) and discover some moderate savings.

• The fuller a fridge or freezer, the more efficient it is as it has less space to cool.

• A full lint filter in your clothes dryer can push up energy use by as much as 30%, so clean it every time.

• Combination electronics, such as fax/printers or TV/DVD players need less power.

• Switch off your computer (and other electronics) when not in use — a continuously active desktop computer will eat up to $120 of electricity a year, according to climatechange.ca — or use the sleep mode, which uses 60 to 70 0.000000e+000ss energy.

• Turn off lights when you leave the room; it’s a myth that switching a bulb on and off uses more energy than leaving it on.

• Motion detectors on outdoor lights can save up to 30%.

• Dusting bulbs and light fixtures can improve lighting by 50%.

Originally published in Today's Parent, July 2007