Energy Saving Appliances

Most recent answer: 10/22/2007

Q:
How do the devices that are advertised to save electrical power for refrigerators work?

Do they save power?

Do the reduce the power bill?
- Roger Kaiser (age old)
University of Illinois Alum, West Grove, PA, USA
A:
Since we don't know exactly what devices you are talking about, I'm afraid we can't answer this question, however there are a few things we can say about energy efficiency in general.

Let's take a look at lights. Your typical household light bulb (incandescent) is relatively inefficient. If you touch the bulb, it's usually hot. That heat is energy lost through heat instead of light. A fluorescent light bulb might take a little more energy to turn on, but once it’s been on a while, it doesn’t use nearly as much energy as an incandescent light bulb. The fluorescent bulbs are also cooler, so they use the energy more efficiently.

As for refrigerators and other appliances, the idea is for the engineers to make them use less energy while doing the same thing. More efficient machines will use less energy and that will lower your electricity bill while still giving you the performance you need. The key when shopping for an appliance is to look not only at the power usage but also at the desired qualities you want out of it. It will do you no good to have a freezer that doesn’t get very cold in order to lower your power bills.

Adam

(published on 10/22/2007)