Replace All Appliances and Light Fixtures with Energy Star–Rated Ones

1.1 Introduction

Domestic energy or household energy consumption refers to the total amount of energy that home owners uses for its daily needs like cooking, heating, and washing. Every household uses different amounts of energy daily, depending on the living standards in the country, the type of residence, and the climatic conditions. According to Brown et al. (2002), natural gas and electricity are the primary sources of energy used in homes. Almost all homes use electricity, and in 2019, electricity accounted for 41% of homes' energy consumption. Only 58% of homes use natural gas as their sources of energy in 2015, and this declined to 44% in 2019. Another source of household energy is petroleum, which includes kerosene, fuel oil, and LPG (liquefied petroleum gas). Homes primarily use fuel oil, natural gas, and LPG for water heating and space heating. On the other hand, electricity is used at home on many electrical appliances, lighting and several other ends use. Generally, about three-quarters of the American homes uses two or more sources of energy. However, the homes in the South and mobile homes are more likely only to use electricity for their daily energy needs. Overall, America primarily uses electricity for most home electricity needs.

Energy Star is an energy efficiency standard that assists people in saving money and protecting the environment. Suppose an appliance or a house electrical is labeled as an energy star compliant. In that case, it gives the buyers the indicator for saving funds on their house utility bills and protecting the environment from pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. In 1987, the National Appliance Energy Conservation Act was approved when the state had an interest in the efficacy and standards of appliances manufacture. The clothes washer/dryer is a must-have household appliance in most American homes ( Brown et al., 2002 ). The energy star washers/dryers are reported to use 20% less what the traditional dryers use. This translates to $210 savings in electric bills in the lifetime of the energy-efficient clothes dryer. Therefore, this essay aims to provide evidence for the importance of replacing all the household appliances and lighting bulbs labeled energy star. Specifically, a special focus is given to replacing clothes dryer, bulbs in the homes, and energy consumption with more efficient energy consuming appliances and lighting.

1.2 Significance of the Study

Replacing all the appliances and lighting devices with energy star rated ones is a very efficient way to save energy. The energy-saving ability of the LED and CFL cooler-burning bulbs can have a substantial impact on an individual’s utility bills while at the same time making the home greener. The CFLs bulbs are compact fluorescent bulbs that resemble soft-serve ice cream. LED lights, in simple scientific definition are the light-emitting diodes. The incandescent light bulbs are proven to waste a lot of energy, which can increase a person’s home cooling costs. Using the incandescent bulbs may also require an individual to pay more for home lighting. EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) projects that by using one energy star rated bulb, an individual saves up to $6 every year and $40 for a lifetime (Walls et al., 2017). Changing all rooms’ light bulbs, outdoor bulbs, garage bulbs, and other essential bulbs at home with energy-star-rated bulbs could mean a lot of savings in a year for an individual.

When every individual replaces just a single bulb with an energy-star rated light bulb would significantly reduce the greenhouse gas emissions by more than 9 billion pounds as reported by EPA. Reducing greenhouse emissions is important for fighting against climate change and global warming, which could be a primary factor in catastrophic weather events (Casten, & Pena, 1998). This means that when people across the world changes to energy star-rated bulbs, the world could be effectively reducing global warming effects and as a result making the world a more peaceful place to make a living not just for the current generation but for the future generations too .

EPA forecasts the United States as the largest energy consumer in the world. In 2006, American households consumed 20% of the world’s energy consumption, secondly followed by China at 15%. However, in recent years, there has been a major concern over energy-security over oil imports, the volatility in energy prices, and the greenhouse gas emissions related to energy consumption. In a modern 20th century, it is a priority to use more efficient energy for the purpose of saving and making environment a safe place to make a living. Besides volatility in traditional energy, there is the concern of environmental issues that impact water and air quality. Individual choices like shifting to green energy by changing to energy-efficient start rated energy can make a huge difference across the globe by hugely minimizing the environmental impact.

1.3 Energy Star Bulbs and Appliances

The lighting products and electrical appliances that have gained the energy star certification are known to be built with exceptional features while at the same time using little energy. Saving energy helps the households save money on the electricity bills and helps a great deal in protecting the environment by minimizing the greenhouse gas emissions in the fight against global warming. Light fixtures and home appliances that have earned the energy star certification implies that they are devices of cutting edge design, high quality.

The energy star certified fixtures utilize 90% less energy in comparison to the conventional models like the incandescent bulbs ( Webber et al., 2000 ). The energy star certified fixtures can distribute light more effectively and efficiently, featuring a custom design around the efficient light source to achieve the best performance. These certified fixtures come in hundreds of decorative styles. They also come in portable designs, including desk, table, and floor lamps. The certified fixtures also come in hard-wired options like for dining rooms, front porch bulbs, under cabinet, kitchen ceiling, wall and hallway ceiling, and bathroom vanity fixtures, amongst others. The energy star rated fixtures give convenient features like dimming in select indoor models and automatically shut-off lights during the day and motion sensors installed on the outdoor models. The energy star rated fixtures last fifteen times longer in comparison to the traditional fixtures. They also come with a warranty of not less than three years by the manufacturers.

Homeowners normally consider several factors when searching for the most appropriate home appliances, including the physical appearance of the device, price, and operation costs. Sometimes the consumers find energy-efficient appliances to be more appealing. Using the energy-efficient light appliances can help homeowners save hundreds of dollars every year. The most efficient energy appliances can help the user pay back their prices in a matter of a few years. Most home electronic device manufacturers claim that their appliances are energy efficient. However, the energy star is the only reliable government-supported guideline for energy efficiency. Over 40% of the Fortune 500 firms have a partnership with the US EPA to verify their products’ efficiency ( Webber et al., 2000 ). A product can only genuinely become energy star certified when it successfully passes EPA energy efficiency rating standards. The energy certified homes are ten percent more efficient when compared to the average home.

Energy star publishes its guidelines and standards every year and gives ranking to appliances based on their efficiency (Davis, 2011). There is a wide range of home appliances in the markets across the world, but only a few of these earn the highest-ranking of energy star. The rankings vary from one category to another; for instance, a brand that is awarded refrigerators energy star may not have an energy star for its manufactured air conditioners. The rankings are given strictly based on appliance energy efficiency and performance.

A perfect example of home appliances is the energy star certified driers. The energy star rated dryers use almost 20% less energy compared to the traditional dryers without necessarily sacrificing their performance and features and saving the user about $215 of energy in its lifetime. The energy star rated dryers adopt innovative technologies that significantly save energy, like moisture sensors that can detect when clothes are already dry, and then they shut down automatically (Davis, 2011). The energy-efficient dryer brands are available from different brands, including Samsung, LG, Electrolux, and more. Many of these energy-efficient dryers also come with convenient features like steam cycles that are useful in saving time on ironing by preventing wrinkles on the clothes.

Almost 81% of American homes do have a dryer. This means that savings opportunity through the dryers is big. Should all the energy star dryers in American homes be energy star rated,, the people would be saving more than $1.5 billion every year in utility bills (Sanchez et al., 2008). They could also be significantly reducing the emission of greenhouse gases equal to emissions from 2 million vehicles.

Energy Star History and Contemporary Viewpoint

Originally, Energy Star was not a popularly known program amongst Americans and was nonexistent in American homes. However, today, it has grown to be the global standard for energy-efficient consumer products. Energy Star was launched in 1992 by EPA (the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Agency). Since Energy Star was created, the program has been implemented in several countries, including Australia, the European Union, New Zealand, Japan, Canada, and Taiwan.

John S. Hoffman created the Energy Star program. Hoffman was the inventor of the Green Programs at EPA in the US. He was also the very first person at EPA to investigate and recognize climate change as a serious environmental risk. During his time, he championed a series of successful charitable programs that helped minimize greenhouse gas emissions.

It is reported that one afternoon Hoffman was strolling in the evening through the EPA offices, and it is during this time that he came up with this brilliant idea, the energy star. His initial interest was to see how the employees were wasting energy by leaving their computers on when they left for home in the evening after work. He was surprised that many employees never switched their computers when they left the office for home. It is through the realization that if most of his employees were leaving their computers on when they left for home in the evening, most people around the world were doing the same or worse (Davis, 2011). He thought it would be mandatory for every person to switch off their machines when they leave in the evening. And as such, energy star was born.

Here is a summary of the implementation of energy star in the United States, Canada, and the European Union:

1975: The EPA came up with Energy Star as a regulation guideline to be adhered to by the manufacturers. 

1992: The EPA takes additional steps to elevate Energy Star to cover additional products in the effort to raise the level of energy efficiency in homes.

1997: EPA expands Energy Star to cover homes by bringing in energy stars to light fixtures, energy-efficient cloth dryers, and washers.

2000: The Energy Star regulations/standards are implemented for the first time in the EU. In 2001, the United States and Canada agreed on advancing Energy Star.

2004: Over 60 percent of homes in the US have already implemented Energy Star appliances.

2010: The certification for energy star expands to 80 percent of homes. EPA creates a 1-100 scale or rating to help in the assessment of energy consumption.

2015: The American consumers are now buying more than 300 million certified energy star products that lead to a cumulative of 5.5 billion products being used in the country.

2019: The energy star goes beyond the 2 mn certified households in America.

Natural resources are a critical section of the environment that humans exploit and extract to help them make life better. Problems regarding energy efficiency first surfaced in the 19th C after the researchers pointed out that coal was not a renewable source of energy. As a result, it caused a serious impact on the environment. After the economic recession in 1929, the world began to have an increase in demand for energy. Countries like China have, over the recent years, reported increased consumption of energy in double figures. 

As the world began to recover from the world recession and the demand for unclean energy increased, the world began questioning the long-term sustainability of the traditional energy sources (Sanchez et al., 2008). By 1975, the consumption of energy was rising at a high speed of 2.5 percent annually. In comparison, the consumption of energy in Denmark was half of that of America per capita and per GDP dollar. The National Research Council studies reveal that the US individual energy consumption was 334 mn Btu, in comparison to Denmark’s 160 mn Btu per individual. Since the European Union implemented the Energy Star standards, the European nations have done better in reducing energy consumption in industries and homes.

1.5 Changing from Traditional Appliances to Energy Rated Ones

The action to save energy will involve shifting from the traditional incandescent bulbs at home and replace them with new energy rated lighting bulbs. Another action will be to change the clothes dryer from a traditional one to a new energy star rated clothes dryer.

Home Lighting 

All home bulbs will be changed. These include 10 indoor bulbs and 4 outdoor bulbs. Specifically, the new bulbs will be Ecosmart 60W Equivalent Soft White A19 lighting bulbs from Amazon. These are highly practicable, highly available, affordable energy star and dimmable LED lighting bulbs. The bulbs come at 4 packs for $44. This means that I can get my ten bulbs and an extra 2 for replacement at a price of ($44*3=$132). The initial cost for indoor energy star bulbs would be $132. The outdoor bulbs would cost $44.99 each for a pack of 2 ( Webber et al., 2000 ). This project requires 4 outside bulbs; therefore, the total cost of outdoor bulbs would be $44.99*2= $89.98. Total cost for new lighting bulb would be 89.99+132 = $221.98.

The manufacturers indicate 22years lifetime for these bulbs. Users can control their lights whenever they are through their mobile devices. 

Light installation takes only a couple of hours a day. For this project, it will only take three days. The first day will be to make orders for the bulb from the seller/Amazon and they arrive within two days. While waiting for deliveries, an electrician will be sourced at a cost of $20 per hour. This will take about 5hours work. So the total installation cost will be $100. The electrician will remove the old bulbs, and replace with then new ones. Total cost of lighting replacement would be $221.98+$100 = $321.98.

The incandescent bulbs only cots about $3 to purchase. They are also easy and cheaper to install in comparison to the advanced energy star rated lighting LED bulbs. However, the catch is in long-term savings on electricity at home. In one year, one bulb saves $6. In one year, all the 14 bulbs save $84. This means that it takes only less than four years to recover the initial capital.

Clothes Dryer

The second part of the project is replacing the traditional clothe dryer with the energy star rated one. A new energy star cloth dryer goes at $1,019. It will be delivered free of charge. And it is ready to use, just plug and play. It is an energy star washer and dryer. This dryer is energy efficient and is estimated to save $300 every year for a family of 4. This means that the investment is returned in only four years.

The total cost of clothes dryer and home lighting will be $1,019 + $322 = $1,341. By replacing the old traditional devices with the new ones, the homeowner is likely to spend more initially, but over the long-term, the homeowner gets back their investment. With the non-energy rated devices, a lot of energy is used, the homeowner spends a lot on energy.

China vs United States Energy Consumption

Statistics indicate that the globe has almost doubled its energy consumption beginning in 1980. While it is cheaper to build renewable energy sources like wind and solar power, a significant part of this demand growth originates from fossil fuels (Brown et al., 2000). It has been forecasted that about 50% of carbon emissions originating from fossil-fuels operation in modern history only happened in the last three decades, putting the world in the danger of climatic changes. The increase in energy demand is a story of population and economic growth. The primary energy consumption, which virtually constitutes all the demand, right down to energy losses as it moves across the distribution and transmission lines, has boomed in the developing nations, even as it leveled off, or even dropped in the industrialized countries.

As a result, the world energy demand balance has shifted from 1980. Originally, in the 80s, the United States consumed more than one-quarter of the total global energy, more than any other country in the world. Today, things have changed, and China is a country using the most energy, with America being the second energy consumer. Other bigger emerging economies like Indonesia and India are consuming four, five, and six times energy they used to consume back in the 80s. Most of this energy comes from the fossil fuels that emit carbon, causing harm to the environment.

Figure: the USA vs China Energy Consumption

Source: https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/EG.USE.PCAP.KG.OE?locations=US-CN

Source: https://www.econotimes.com/Energy-consumption-composition-US-vs-China-and-India-and-climate-debate-part-1-781166

Historically, the superpowers of the world have done all in their power to fairly guarantee the availability of the required energy to compete on the global platform. Today, the fossil fuels are declining, and at the same time the energy demand is on the rise, the most powerful countries, particularly China and the US, are competition for the available energy resources, including the renewable ones while continuing to offer protection and procurement for the remaining renewable sources across the globe.

Conclusion

This essay presented the case of replacing a traditional dishwasher, and incandescent bulbs with energy star LED lights and energy star green cloth dryer. As discussed, the overall benefit of this was a massive saving on energy through reduced energy consumption and protection of the environment. By using more efficient appliances and energy-saving bulbs, the world can significantly reduce global warming. Based on completing this study, as the researcher, I have learned a number of things regarding natural resources. First, I have learned that energy production is limited, yet consumption worldwide has doubled or tripled over the last decade. As energy consumption increases, the environment is also heavily impacted. Most importantly, individual efforts like replacing just one incandescent bulb with an energy-efficient energy star bulb could save up to $6 a year and help prevent climatic change.

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