How green is your kitchen?

With companies increasingly becoming preoccupied with environmental issues, it's appears a new marketing ploy 'replace your old appliance with one which is kinder to the environment', reduce your carbon footprint et al. However, it is an argument which is generally true, the older an appliance, the worse are it's green credentials.

Regardless of the environmental issue, there is a steadfast reason why everyone should be interested in efficiency labels and statistics, money. An appliance energy usage should be considered a second price charge. When buying a new unit, people would be wise to calculate the lifetime energy cost. This is done by simply multiplying the kilowatt hours of the appliance, versus your electricity suppliers charge, and the expected lifespan of the unit.

Most European governments, and the European Union itself provides government standards that new appliances must meet. But, there are numerous energy star ratings which indicate than an appliance is two or three times more efficient than government standards. Whilst most energy star ratings are very reputable, errors have occasional been highlighted in their testing procedures.

The three appliances to be most effected by the evolution in energy efficiency standards are, laundry units like washing machines, dishwashers and refrigeration appliances. Front loading washing machines have proved to be more efficient than top loaders, dishwashers use over 70% less water than a couple of decades ago, and a modern efficient fridge freezer can save over £50 a year over models five years old or so.

With energy costs increasing, you can expect that manufacturers will continue to improve upon their efficiency, for the simple reason to entice people to replace their old machine. To add an energy efficiency review (click) then philodox.co.uk has an easy to use interface.