Do your Black Friday shopping spree plans include shopping for a clothes washer, clothes dryer, dishwasher or refrigerator?

If you’re buying appliances on Black Friday, whatever you buy, make sure they carry the ENERGY STAR logo. Here’s why, courtesy of Appliances Connection, a one-stop shop for appliances and a good source for suggestions on how to save energy.

Why ENERGY STAR? Cleaner Air, Lower Bills

After heating and cooling, our homes gobble up the most energy by powering our appliances. Clothes washers, clothes dryers, refrigerators, freezers, stoves and ovens all run on either electricity or, in the case of some stoves and clothes dryers, natural gas.

Most electricity is generated by coal-fired power plants. Burning both coal and natural gas releases carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere. This CO2 creates a gaseous blanket over the earth that causes global warming and climate change.

Burning fossil fuels like coal and natural gas also pollutes the air with smoggy particles that can make it difficult for people to breathe. Polluted air causes asthma and other respiratory problems and can increase the chances that someone will have a heart attack.

Appliances that carry the ENERGY STAR logo are independently certified to meet standards established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and its many partners to ensure that appliances perform exceptionally well while saving energy and, in the case of clothes washers, water.

What difference does it make?

Let’s take just one example: Clothes washers.

By the way, many appliances now use this “high efficiency” label. But ENERGY STAR says that, “there are no standards for energy efficiency” associated with it. “Only products that have earned the ENERGY STAR are independently certified to save energy.”

If you buy a clothes washer that is labeled with both ENERGY STAR and the “High E,” make sure you use High E detergent.

Here’s a sample clothes washers that have earned the ENERGY STAR logo.

What Else Should You Look For When Buying Appliances on Black Friday?

• Size – In addition to the ENERGY STAR logo, consider how much capacity you need. If you’re a two-person household, do you need a machine with capacity for 12?
• Energy-Saving Options – Many machines can let you choose different cycles so you can air dry dishes or use a high-spin cycle with clothes to remove most of the water before you put them in the dryer. Dryers may come with moisture sensors so they will shut off when they sense the clothes are dry, rather than keep running for a certain amount of time.
• Ability to Recycle Old Appliances – Many utilities now pay their customers to pick up old refrigerators and air conditioners, then offer a rebate when the customer purchases a more energy efficient model.

Appliances Connection has compiled detailed buying guides that will help you save energy, water, and money as well as purchase the appliance that makes the most sense for you. They offer buying guides for pretty much any appliance you’re buying, as well as for bedroom furniture, mattresses, even sofas.

NOTE: Sponsors help us bring you expert content at no cost to you. We only work with sponsors who meet our criteria for providing eco-friendly products and services. Our editorial opinions remain our own.

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Should you switch to solar power?

I asked Nick Tedesco, the CEO of Solar Power Now, to explain how solar power can save you money on your electricity bill over time.

If you own your own home, you have an enormous financial opportunity.

You can choose to be a power producer instead of a consumer of electricity. How? by making a switch to solar power. Installing solar panels will save you thousands of dollars over decades of energy use.

Residential solar power is now much cheaper than conventional energy over the long term. The average American pays approximately 12 cents per kilowatt hour for electricity. If you live in Hawaii, California, New York and New Jersey, you may be paying as much as 20 to 30 cents per kilowatt hour or more. Whether you pay 12 cents, 20 cents or something in between, you’re wasting money. That’s because the cost for solar power over the useful life of a solar panel system is only 8 cents per kilowatt hour.

Paying 8 cents per kilowatt hour instead of, say, 16 cents per kilowatt hour over a 20-year period is the difference between paying $15,000 and $30,000 for electricity during that same timeframe.

Let’s consider another viewpoint. Millions of American homeowners pay an average of approximately $150 per month throughout the year for electricity. A homeowner can now get financing to purchase a solar panel system and have a monthly payment for that system that would also be close to $150. After about 7 years, the solar panel system will be paid off; the electricity generated after this 7-year period can then be considered free. So: pay $150 a month for ever – or just for 7 years?

There is a reason why every 3 minutes, we see another solar installation completed in America: because it saves money, while helping the planet, too. Many homeowners are working with small local companies that can help homeowners figure out what solar array works best for them, then figure out financing that makes the system affordable on the front end and very economical over time.

Nick Tedesco represents smaller, more affordable solar installers across America. Learn more about affordable residential solar power at Solar Power Now and get connected to a trusted solar contractor.

This is a sponsored post.

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  What’s the big deal? Greg says it’s all about energy and waste disposal.  “If we could recover and recycle 75% of the aluminum cans being currently tossed into landfills – 600,000 metric tons of aluminum – we could save 1286 megawatts of generated electricity. That’s the amount produced by two coal fired power plants, and consumed by two aluminum plants,” says Greg. “Replacing this production with recycling would keep 11.8 million metric tons of carbon dioxide from being generated and released into the atmosphere.” It would also reduce the amount of mercury going into the environment, since power plants emit polluting mercury when they burn coal.

Why is recycling so efficient? According to Alcoa, recycling a ton of aluminum uses just 5% of the energy required to make virgin metal. Every ton of recycled aluminum that Alcoa uses saves about 14,000 kilowatt hours of electricity. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimates that the average American household consumes 920 kilowatts of electricity per month. Consequently, using 1 ton of recycled aluminum as opposed to 1 ton of virgin aluminum would make enough conserved energy available to power an American household for over 15 months.

Despite the compelling energy savings that accrue from recycling aluminum, we Americans are not recycling as much as other countries. Compared to our 52%, consider how well the nations below are doing:
• Brazil 94.4%
• Japan 90.9 %
• Germany 89 %
• Global Average 63%
• Western Europe 57.7%

Why the diff? On top of the “throw it away” mentality common among American households, many communities don’t make it easy for citizens to do the right thing. More towns and cities need to offer curbside recycling programs or convenient recycling centers. Retailers that sell canned beverages could help, too, by setting up recycling centers on their premises. Eleven states already put deposits on canned beverages to insure that the cans are returned to the manufacturer. The rest should follow suit.

  To find locations where you can recycle nearby, check out earth911. And don’t forget to contact your city administrator or solid waste manager to urge them to make community recycling easier for everyone in your community.

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