Energy Efficient Products

So by now you've probably figured out exactly how much energy your household is using and have taken steps to cut down, like turning off unused lights and using a clothesline. But if you're smart - and the fact that you want to cut down at all speaks highly of your intelligence - you've figured out that it's next to impossible to avoid using electricity and appliances. Luckily, modern electronic design and manufacturing has supplied us with a whole range of products that are designed to use less electricity. Use this article as your guide to energy efficient products as you prepare to shop for your children's future.

Energy Star

The task of recognizing what is and is not energy efficient would be vary difficult indeed if we were forced to resort to reading the wattage labels on the backs of the boxes and mentally multiplying it in our heads by the approximate number of hours we intend to use it. If we had to do that, we'd end up turning to Sage Software Vancouver for some accounting software that we could carry around with us. In reality, though, the complex math is done for us by our governments via the Energy Star program. It was started in the United States in 1992 and has since been adopted worldwide as the standard for judging energy efficiency in consumer products. All you have to do is look for the logo.

Lights

Electric lighting is a major staple of civilization, and one we can't really do without. So the burden rested on the scientists and engineers to come up with a more efficient lighting system than incandescent bulbs, which use only 10% of their required electricity to create light, and waste the other 90% as heat. Fluorescent lights are more expensive, but they use 75% less power and last ten to twenty times longer than incandescent bulbs. LED or light-emitting diode lights aren't as large or bright, but are much more efficient, running on only a fraction of the electricity, which is why LEDs and fluorescent lights are taking over everything from TV screens to the porch lights of Scarborough condos.

Heating, Cooling, and Building Products

Heating and cooling systems are major consumers of electricity, so newer, higher efficiency boilers, furnaces, and air conditioners are coming on the market. Since insulation is a huge factor in how much heat needs to be produced or cooled in the first place, there are many smaller products like high temperature tape which accompany the Energy Star large appliance lineup, increasing efficiency by providing greater insulation on duct seals. Newer windows also increase heating efficiency by filling the space between the panes with inert gas rather than air, preventing heat transfer.

Home Electronics and Appliances

Most Energy Star-qualified appliances use at least 30% less electricity, usually by including sleep or automatic shutdown modes, and LEDs in place of traditional incandescent lights or vacuum tubes. Home electronics aren't just for the home anymore, either. In the corporate world, everyone from book publishers to your food PR agency is buying energy efficient monitors, projectors, and coffee makers.





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The Enviroment


Thursday, March 28, 2024