Energy Star Compact Refrigerators
We were shopping for a small refrigerator for our game room and decided we would purchase one of the Energy Star compact refrigerators. Most people have heard of the concept of 'going green'. From offices to homes and schools, people are promoting becoming Eco-friendly.
However, I doubt that the program known as Energy Star is very well-known. At least, I had never actually heard of the program itself. I had seen the Energy Star symbol, which looks like the top of an umbrella with the word energy written out and the star symbol, but I didn't realize it was actually a program that the US Environmental Protection Agency and the US Department of Energy teamed up on to help us save energy and protect the environment at the same time without sacrificing features or performance. I thought it was just a label the manufacturer put on there in order to sell more appliances!
Did you know that refrigerators use more energy than any other appliance in our homes? I knew that any heating and cooling unit uses large amounts of electricity. I was somewhat surprised to learn that refrigerators use more than furnaces and air conditioners. I guess I never really thought about it though. That is another reason we purchased one of the Energy Star compact refrigerators.
The manufacturers of refrigerators have done a lot of research in the last twenty years in order to make them more energy efficient. There was even a competition in Toronto, Canada, in the 1990's to encourage energy efficiency. The United States made the most energy-efficient model. This resulted in current Energy Star compact refrigerators using fifty percent less energy than those made before 1993!
In order to be included in the Energy Star program, the Energy Star compact refrigerators has to produce less heat and reduce cooling by approximately 15% and in warmer climates up to 30%; to save consumers about half in utility costs by using about half as much electricity; and to automatically shift to "sleep" mode after a certain length of inactivity.
When you are buying either large or small items, train yourself to look for the Energy Star. Compact refrigerators are not the only thing that will be labeled as energy efficient. There are at least fifty different categories of energy-efficient products, including lighting, heating and cooling systems, as well as windows and entire modular homes. If you want to learn more about Energy Star, they are on the web.
