- Before you buy an appliance, learn about what’s available. The Federal Trade Commission database can help you learn about new energy-conserving appliances. In addition, you can refer to the manufacturer’s Web site to learn more about the appliance and to find authorized repair shops.
- Learn how to make your current appliances run more efficiently. You can learn how to make your current appliances more efficient when you study the Web sites behind the links on this page. To be more succinct, spend some time with basically unbiased information provided by Mr. Electricity, How Stuff Works, and Energy Hawk.
- A dishwasher may be your friend. This is one appliance that needs to be addressed, as the answer to this statement is currently a toss-up. The newer and more energy-efficient Energy Star dishwashers can save you money and conserve water if you wait until you have a full load. And, you don’t need to pre-rinse, since booster heaters in the new machines heat the water temperature efficiently to clean the dishes. But these dishwashers can sense food, a perceived benefit that can actually create energy conservation problems. Just scrape food off plates into your compost. And let your dishes air dry instead of using the heat dry feature. As to arguments against dishwashers, you can beat the energy-saving washer if you use some strict hand-washing techniques. The resolution to this argument is whether your time spent washing dishes can be used more efficiently elsewhere.
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