| Energy Efficient Appliances |
| ---When using this page, notice the blue underlined portions are web links--- --Energy Efficient Appliances It has been said that every dollar spent on energy efficiency saves three dollars in an alternative energy system. I don't know if this is true, but saving energy is usually just as good for the pocketbook as it is for the environment. I spent some time researching different kinds of EnergyStar appliances and lights. I have a couple other helpful websites also. --Refrigerators The Sunfrost refrigerator is by far the lowest energy consuming refrigerator on the market at this time. The cheapest place I found to buy one is at SunTrekEnergy. --Clotheswashers When I looked around for a clotheswasher, I decided it would be good to go with the most available one. I found one at FactoryBuilderStores.com that is made by ASKO, and uses the least amount of energy of all the clotheswashers I could find. --Looking for Efficient Lighting The rest of this page explores options in efficient home lighting. I enjoy looking for more energy efficient lighting. I have been looking for a good light to use for both indoor and outdoor use. While looking for the most efficient home light I found out that light efficiency can be measured in lumens per watt, or Efficiency = Lumen/Watt. I then found a table that explained the different lumen per watt efficiency of various light bulbs. You can find this information on the second page of a Acrobat Reader page at http://www.guth.com/products/pdf/t2-t3.pdf and at EERE's website. --Low Pressure Sodium Lights From this table it would seem that high and low pressure sodium lights are the best because they are the most efficient. However, they are only good for outdoor lighting because both high and low pressure sodium lights give off a yellowish light, not conducive to good color rendering. --Compact Fluorescents Up to this point I have been looking into the price and efficiency of compact fluorescent lights as an alternative to incandescent lighting. You can find out how much money you can save from compact fluorescent lights over incandescent lights with this Xcel worksheet at EnergyStar.The best efficiency that I have found is 70 lumens per watt. The best lightbulb I have found is a full spectrum compact fluorescent 15 watt bulbs sold at http://www.fullspectrumsolutions.com/compact.htm. I also found a good deal, but without as many lumens/watt at lightbulbsdirect. Previously I worked at a store that had full spectrum lighting. It not only impressed me, but made it easier for me to work. If you want to switch out your regular fluorescents with full spectrum florescents, you can buy bulbs at places such as Home Depot or Walmart. I even talked my boss into switching his lights in order to save money. --Small purpose lighting LEDs, or Light Emmitting Diodes Light Emmitting Diodes or LEDs are very efficient for flashlights, traffic signals, and brake lights. However, because the angle of their light is usually so small, they end up creating less total lumens per watt than incandescent lights. LED light is measured in mcd or microcandles. As far as I have understood, a candle is somewhat equal to a lumen, except that lumens give off light at a certain angle, such as 15 or 30 degrees. (Someone please e-mail me if I am wrong about this). The cheapest and best information I have found on LEDs is at http://www.superbrightleds.com/leds.htm The most informative webpage I have found on LED flashlights is at http://www.uwgb.edu/nevermab.led.htm I bought myself an infinity ultra flashlight that is mentioned at this last webpage. They last 25 hours on a AA battery and I bought it at http://www1.ecxmall.com/stores/texastacticalsupply/Search.bok?category=Led+Lights.I also found the Surefire KL1, a very bright light for $40 at tadgear.com. |