Natural Environment Blog

The Energy Star program was created by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in an attempt to limit energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. Savvy consumers know to look for the Energy Star logo when shopping for appliances, heating and cooling equipment, home electronics, office equipment, or lightning.

By purchasing one of the certified products you can be sure that energy expenses will be lower due to reduced consumption. You can often save up to 30% on your energy bill. The EPA has also extended the Energy Star label to cover new homes, buildings, and manufacturing plants.

At Home

Home electronics such as TVs, DVD players, cordless phones, and audio equipment use electricity even when on standby mode.

TV sets are probably the most popular and the most energy consuming in this category. An average household has at least two of them. In order to qualify for the Energy Star label, a TV has to be at least 30% more energy efficient than a standard unit not only when it is on, but also when on standby. There is a wide variety of Energy Star compliant TVs to choose from, whether you prefer LCD or plasma. They are manufactured by Hitachi, Panasonic, Sony, Samsung, and many others.

Another group of energy absorbers at home are appliances such us washers, fridges, freezers, and electric heating and cooling units. When it comes to dish and clothes washers, the Energy Star versions not only use less energy, but are more water-efficient when compared to standard models.

Heating and cooling equipment usually generates the highest costs, so pay extra attention to energy consumption data when changing one of these units.

In The Office

Offices use many electronic devices, so it is obvious that they use lots of energy. What is more, most office equipment is left on 24/7. It is really important to make sure that energy consumption is kept to a minimum.

Energy Star labeled devices use less energy to perform regular tasks and automatically enter a low-power mode when not in use. As far as computers, certified models use as much as 70% less energy than those without active power management features.

Again, there are many companies that produce energy-efficient office equipment. Hewlett-Packard offers as many as 1,000 models of office products that have earned the Energy Star logo. These include notebooks, printers, scanners, and all-in-ones. Samsung proudly features that their entire line of notebooks and netbooks have qualified for the certificate.

Summary

In summary, the US government ratings system called Energy Star helps consumers choose energy-efficient equipment that on average uses 20–30% less energy than standard units. Buying items labeled as Energy Star compliant ensures not only reduced energy expenses, but also gives you the ability to have your own input in limiting greenhouse gas emissions.

This post was contributed by PennySaverUSA.com. Please visit us online if you are interested in refrigerators, freezers, washers, or other energy-saving appliances for sale.

The Earth radiation budget represents the balance between incoming energy from the sun and outgoing (reflected) energy from the Earth.

The term ‘budget’ can be likened to an individual’s budget or company budget - income versus expenses.

The earth radiation budget is determined by calculating all of the incoming sunlight minus all of the reflected sunlight and emitted heat.

If the radiation budget is in balance, Earth’s temperature will remain constant. If the budget is out of balance, the earth will either heat up or cool down.

Currently, the global radiation budget is in balance. This means that the amount of energy coming in is the same that is leaving. Having said this, different parts of Earth are completely out of balance. But as a whole, the earth’s radiation budget is in balance.

Many things can (and do) happen to sunlight on its way to Earth. It can be reflected back into space before or even after it reaches Earth. It can also be absorbed into many of the Earth’s surfaces.

There are 3 ways that the Earth radiation budget can tip out of balance:

• the amount of incoming solar radiation changes
• the amount of greenhouse gases in the Earth’s atmosphere changes
• the amount of Earth’s reflective features changes (clouds, ice, aerosols etc). Bright white surfaces reflect more sunlight than they absorb. The opposite is true for darker objects.

Since 1978, NASA scientists have been studying the earth’s radiation budget closely. When they launched the Nimbus-7 satellite, it carried a new instrument they called the Earth Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBE). ERBE was designed to measure all the energy through the top of the Earth’s atmosphere.

Since then, NASA has launched many more projects and satellites in order to study this area.

Based on analysis provided by the Australian Greenhouse Office, there are five household activities that stand above the others when it comes to production greenhouse gases.

Five of the biggest greenhouse gas emitters in the average household are:

• Travel (to work, shopping, recreation etc)
• Water heating
• General electrical devices
• Heating/cooling
• Lighting

Here, I’m going to discuss some of the easiest things we can do to lower the greenhouse gas emissions from our households. To get the biggest “bang for our buck”, we should first target those activities that produce the most greenhouse gas (such as the 5 listed above).

You might find many of my suggestions blatantly obvious. That’s OK. But remember that despite how obvious some these are, billions of people around the world choose not to change - they’re too used to their way of life.

If we really want to reduce our carbon footprint, we need to break some of the habits that have been ingrained in us for so long. Fortunately this is easier than it sounds. All we need to do is make a decision - do we want to make a difference or not? Once that decision has been made, the rest will come naturally.

Anyway, here are the big 5.

Travel

Some estimates have found that 34% of household greenhouse gas emissions comes from travel. Furthermore, a large part of these greenhouse gases come from cars.

By using our cars less, we can significantly reduce our carbon footprint. Try walking or cycling instead. As well as environmental benefits, there are also health benefits from doing this. Next time you do your grocery shopping, throw on a backpack and cycle to the supermarket. Throw all your groceries into your backpack and cycle home. You’ll feel much better for it!

Water Heating

Water heating is a high producer of greenhouse gas. This highlights the need to really be mindful of how much hot water we use. Maybe we should ask ourselves some questions like:

• “Do I really need to spend 15 minutes under a hot shower every day?”
• “Do I really need to use hot water when washing my clothes?”
• “Do I really need to fill the sink up to the brim each time I wash the dishes?”

Electrical Devices

Electrical devices are high greenhouse gas producers too. Devices such as TVs, stereos, computers, printers, scanners etc all produce loads of greenhouse gas.

The sad thing about this is that, up to 13% of household greenhouse gas is produced while our electrical appliances are turned off. When turned off, these devices still consume electricity and produce greenhouse gas.

As well asking ourselves “Do I really need this device…”, we should also remember to pull the plug out at the wall when finished with these devices.

Another thing to do is, when purchasing electrical appliances, try to look for the most energy efficient appliances. Depending on where you live, your government might require all electrical appliances to be rated for their energy efficiency. This type of system will make it easier for you.

Heating/cooling

Again, an obvious question to ask is “Do I really need the heater on all the time”. Or if you live in a warmer climate “Do I really need the air conditioner on all the time?” .

In cooler climates, try keeping your body warm - not the room. What I mean by this is, instead of putting the heater/radiator on, wear warm clothing instead (or just move around a lot more!). And if you’re sitting on the couch at home and you’re getting cold, wrap a bed sheet around you, or place it over your legs. You’ll be amazed how soon you warm up.

In warmer climates, opening windows and letting air through can often cool you down significantly. A cold shower or swim is always refreshing too!

Lights

We should get into the habit of turning lights off when we don’t need them. Or even better, don’t turn them on if we don’t need to.

We could also make sure we buy energy efficient light bulbs. They use far less energy than traditional light bulbs and produce much less greenhouse gas. Although, if you do buy energy efficient light bulbs, just make sure you dispose of them properly.

Have you ever wondered how much greenhouse gas you were producing every time you threw your laundry into the washing machine?

Same thing with the clothes dryer. Have you ever wondered how much your clothes dryer was contributing towards your carbon footprint?

Well, here are some statistics the Australian Greenhouse Office (AGO) has come up with:

• Washing machine: Each year, the energy used to run an average washing machine produces 90 kilograms of greenhouse gas.
• Warm water: If you wash your clothes using warm water, add another 475 kilograms of greenhouse gas to this. This works out to be around 4 kilograms of greenhouse gas produced per wash.
• Dryer: If you use a dryer, add another 150 kilograms to that.
• Detergents: For top loading washing machines, the production of washing detergent generates around 0.3 kg of greenhouse gas per wash. For front loaders, it’s around half of that.

What surprised me is the amount of greenhouse gas produced by using warm water. I knew clothes dryers used up a lot of energy but I wasn’t expecting the hot water to produce more than 3 times the greenhouse gas compared to the dryer. I’m glad I only use cold water to wash my clothes!

If you combine the 90 kg (from running the washing machine) with 475 kg for the water, you end up with 565 kilograms of greenhouse gas produced each year - just from washing your clothes!

If you use warm water and a dryer, you could be producing a staggering 715 kilograms of greenhouse gas just from doing your laundry!

What to do about this?

By doing the following, you can help reduce your carbon footprint:

• Use cold water to wash your clothes. As seen above, using cold water can significantly reduce the greenhouse gases produced from washing your clothes. By using cold water, you can reduce your greenhouse gas emissions by as much as 4 kilograms per wash!
• Don’t waste washing detergent. Production of washing detergent contributes to greenhouse gases.
• Buy washing detergents made from natural substances. They will contribute much less to your carbon footprint.
• Avoid washing clothes that don’t really need to be washed.
• Another thing we can do is, when clothes shopping, look for clothes with self cleaning properties. Some clothes available today come with a self-cleaning textile finish called NanoSphere.
• Avoid using the clothes dryer. Hang your clothes on the clothes line if you can. With a good breeze, your clothes will be dry in no time!

The Australian Greenhouse Office (AGO) recently produced a publication called Global Warming - Cool It!. In it, they provide an outline of the various household activities that produce greenhouse gases.

Some of the biggest producers of greenhouse gas include:

• Traveling to work
• Traveling for other activities (shopping, recreation etc)
• Water heating
• Various electrical appliances/devices

Here’s a more detailed breakdown:

For those of use looking for ways to reduce our carbon footprint, this gives us a good indication of where to start. In particular, by concentrating on those areas that produce the most greenhouse gas, we can make a bigger difference.

In my post about reducing greenhouse gas, I discuss some of the things each of us can do to reduce our carbon footprint.

Most people assume that when they push the “Off” button on their TV or other electrical appliance, that it is actually turning the thing off. The reality is that, in most cases, the appliance will actually continue to use electricity even after it’s been switched off.

The vast majority of electrical appliances can’t actually be switched off completely without you pulling the plug out of the mains socket. These appliances churn through electricity all day, every day, for as long as you have the device plugged in to the mains.

Given the number of electrical devices that most households leave plugged into the wall, this can be a huge problem for the electricity bill and for the environment.

There’s even a name for it…

This phenomena is commonly referred to as “standby power” or “standby current”. Standby power is the power that is consumed when an electrical device is switched off or not performing it’s primary role. In some cases, a device will need to be in standby mode, but in most cases it doesn’t.

Various studies around the world have estimated that standby power accounts for between 5% and 13% of household energy consumption. That’s about the same energy required to run your fridge. That’s a lot of unnecessary power consumption!

Also, studies have estimated that standby power accounts for as much as 1% of worldwide greenhouse gas emissions. The amount of greenhouse gases that our electrical devices are producing these days is having an enormous impact on global warming. And global warming is having an enormous impact on our planet. The less electricity we consume, the better.

Why do we need Standby Power?

Some electrical devices have a “standby mode”, where it will continue to operate in a reduced capacity while it has been turned off. This is where standby power is required.

Examples of where standby power is required:

• Devices that need to maintain signal reception (eg, telephones, remote controls)
• Devices that need to monitor temperature (eg, refrigerator)
• Devices that need to power an internal clock
• Devices that need a continuous LCD display

In most cases though, electrical devices don’t require standby power. There’s no reason you would want this device to stay “on” when you’ve turned it “off”. These devices are simply using standby power through inefficient design. They are churning through electricity 24/7 for no good reason.

What’s being done about it?

Agencies around the world have recognized this problem with standby power and are beginning to do something about it.

For example, in 1999, the International Energy Agency (IEA) established a “one-watt plan”. The one-watt plan is a proposal that all participating countries develop energy policies that restrict standby power usage to no more than 1 watt per device by 2010.

Fortunately, technology advancements have improved the efficiently of electrical devices. Also, many devices could easily be redesigned to use less standby power.

What should I do about it?

The easiest thing you can do to reduce standby power consumption is pull the plug out.

Take a look at all your electrical appliances and determine whether any of them need to be in “standby mode” after you turn them off. For the ones that don’t, simply pull the plug out of the mains power when you’re finished with them. As well as helping the environment, this could cut your household electricity bill by 13%.

You could also purchase a power saving device such as Power Genie. Power Genie sits between your electrical devices and the mains power and ensures that when you turn your device “off” it really is “off”.