Choosing appliances & lighting
Major appliances
Appliances typically use about 25% of your household energy and produce about 45% of your greenhouse gas emissions.
If you're buying new white goods, they have an energy star label, and washing machines and dishwashers also have a water star label, to make choosing efficient models easier. Each extra star will save you 15 to 30% in running costs.
However, when choosing appliances it's not just the stars that count. It's also important to buy the right size. For example, a 550-litre 5-star fridge could actually use more energy than a 350-litre 4-star one.
A washing machine that is too large will mean you end up doing part-full loads.
So think about the size and features you really need. Then choose a product with the highest star rating you can afford. There is often no connection between star rating and price.
Cook tops and ovens do not have energy labels.
Gas
generally has significantly lower greenhouse emissions
than electricity, but ensure you have a good range hood
to get rid of combustion gases.
[See Your Home:
Appliances.]
'We tried fluorescent lighting years ago and didn't like it, but these new "warm white" globes are just fine!'
Lighting
Avoid having to use artificial lighting during the day. Use energy efficient windows and skylights to optimise the use of natural daylight indoors. You don't need big skylights to provide enough natural light. See Choosing building products.
The Australian Government is phasing out inefficient incandescent lamps by 2010.
Energy efficient compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) come in a wide range of shapes, sizes and colours, and dimmable models are now available. CFLs can replace just about any incandescent bulb in your home, including halogen downlights.
Renovating is a good time to get your lighting right.
Many people just choose low voltage halogen downlights, but these are very inefficient. A 50 W halogen downlight can use 65 W including the transformer, more than a standard 60 W bulb.
CFL and LED downlights use much less energy and also last about 6 to 10 times as long - a great advantage for bulbs in hard to reach places. LEDs vary in efficiency so look for models that produce at least 40 lumens per watt - ask the retailer. LEDs are more expensive, but are getting cheaper and better all the time.
If you don't replace halogen downlights, try swapping 50 W bulbs for 35 W or even 20 W. Many people use 50 W bulbs and then dim them as they are too bright, which is much less efficient than using the right bulb.
It's best to minimise the number of downlights if possible, even energy efficient ones, as they are a wasteful way to light a room.
|
These options
provide similar light levels: | Standard bulbs | Downlights | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 x 15 W CFL |
1 X 75 W incandesc. |
5 x 11 W CFL |
4 x 35 W IRC halogen |
4 x 50 W halogen | |
| Lifetime hours | 10,000 | 1,000 | 15,000 | 5,000 | 2,500 |
| Purchase cost* | $10 | $1 | $100 | $60 | $40 |
| Running cost* | $33 | $164 | $120 | $350 | $569 |
| Total cost* | $53 | $179 | $220 | $490 | $669 |
| Greenhouse gas emissions* | 219 kg | 1,095 kg | 803 kg | 2,336 kg | 3,796 kg |
* Over 10 years. Based on usage of 4 hours a day. Purchase cost includes lamp cost and transformer
for halogens. Operational costs and greenhouse gas emissions will vary with hours of usage,
electricity rates and location. One standard bulb is compared with the minimum number of
downlights required to light the average room.
[See Your Home:
Lighting.]
