Products and Decisions That Matter
Energy Star® is a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S Department of Energy program that certifies products based on their energy efficiency characteristics. Products that carry the Energy Star® designation can collectively safeguard the environment in big ways.
Smart thermostats – Many of these simple Wi-Fi-enabled devices can “learn” household temperature preferences and automatically adjust settings when the family is asleep or away for the day. 1 Such a device would mean no more leaving the heat running high when nobody’s at home, or the AC left at max chill when the family’s away for the week on vacation.
Here’s where it gets really interesting. Imagine for a moment that every U.S. household used an Energy Star® certified smart thermostat. As a result, there would be total annual savings of: 2
- 13 billion pounds of annual greenhouse gas emissions
- 56 trillion British Thermal Units (BTUs) of energy
- $740 million in energy costs
Washing machines – – If every washing machine sold and used in The United States carried an Energy Star® certification, households could collectively save more than: 3
- $3.3 billion each year in household energy costs
- 19 billion pounds in carbon pollution annually – equal to the emission from 1.8 million fossil fuel motor vehicles
Dryers – Energy Star® certified dryers use about 20 percent less energy than standard models. Putting a new certified washer/dryer set in a home could result in savings of more than $380 in the lifetime of the products over a conventional washer/dryer set – and do the planet good.3
The point is, some of the small, easy decisions you make in running your household can contribute towards planet-saving numbers. To find out more about Energy Star® products and appliances and the positive impact the certification can have on the planet, check out EnergyStar.gov.
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