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Appliances Eat Energy

Posted on: Sunday, 9 October 2005, 15:00 CDT

By Mary Beth Breckenridge, The Akron Beacon Journal, Ohio

Oct. 9--Home-heating costs may not be the only culprit behind your skyrocketing natural gas bill. Gas appliances play a part, too.

To be sure, gas cooking ranges, clothes dryers and water heaters account for a smaller share of your bill than your heating system. And even with the rising cost of natural gas, they're still generally cheaper to operate than their electrical counterparts, said Doris Ikle, president of CMC Energy Services, a Maryland firm that specializes in energy efficiency.

Here's why: It takes 293 kilowatt-hours of electricity, or 1,000 cubic feet of gas, to produce the same amount of heat. With gas selling in the neighborhood of $15 per thousand cubic feet and electricity around 11.5 cents per kilowatt-hour, it takes almost $33.70 worth of electricity to produce the same amount of heat as $15 worth of gas.

Nevertheless, those costs add up. So it pays to choose and use appliances wisely.

Here are some cost-saving tips from Ikle, the Alliance to Save Energy, the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, the U.S. Department of Energy and the California Energy Commission.

Water heating is a big energy user in the home, usually second only to heating and cooling the air. Water tanks today are much better insulated than in the past, so the loss of heat is minimized, Ikle said. For an older water heater, however, covering with an insulating blanket can stem that heat loss, she said. Insulating pipes that run through unheated areas also helps the water retain its heat.

Worth noting are alternative types of water heaters that require less energy. One that's gaining attention in the United States is the tankless system -- also called an instantaneous or demand heater -- which heats water only when it's needed. Tankless heater manufacturer Takagi claims a 45 percent saving on natural-gas costs for a typical homeowner.

Ikle said the drawback is that it can produce a limited amount of hot water at one time, not ideal for a big household.

Other types of water heaters include indirect heaters and solar heaters. Indirect water heaters let the home's boiler or furnace do double duty to heat the water, and when used in combination with a high-efficiency boiler or furnace, they're usually the cheapest way to provide hot water, the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy says. Solar water heaters are usually more expensive to buy and operate than a gas heater. A good overview of choices can be found at the Energy Depart-ment's Web site, www.eere.energy.gov/consumer.

SOME STEPS TO SAVE ON HOT WATER:

Water heaters

-- Lower the water heater temperature to 120 degrees, and turn the heater to its vacation setting when you go away.

-- Wash dishes and clothes in full loads.

-- Use cold water for laundry whenever possible, and always use the cold rinse cycle.

-- If you're replacing a clothes washer or dishwasher, look for one with the Energy Star label. Consider a horizontal-axis clothes washer, which uses less water.

-- Install low-flow shower heads and faucet aerators.

-- Take shorter showers.

-- Fix dripping faucets, especially hot-water faucets.

Clothes dryers

Dryers aren't rated by the government's Energy Star program, because most dryers of the same type use a similar amount of energy. If you're replacing your dryer, Ikle suggests looking for one with a moisture sensor to turn off the dryer when clothes are dry.

Some tips to reduce the gas used to operate your dryer:

-- Use the fastest spin cycle to remove water from clothes.

-- Use the dryer's cool-down cycle to finish.

-- Dry heavy items such as towels separately.

-- Clean the lint filter after every load.

Ranges

Pilot lights used to eat up the savings of cooking with gas. But new electronic ignitions reduce gas use by about 30 percent over stoves with pilot lights, according to the California Energy Commission. As a result, a newer gas range costs less than half as much to operate as an electric one, the panel says.

Some tips for cooking:

-- Keep preheating time to a minimum.

-- Don't cover oven racks with foil. It blocks air flow.

-- Use glass or ceramic pans instead of metal, which cook food at 25 degrees lower in the same amount of time.

-- Clean a self-cleaning oven right after cooking.

-- Use a pressure cooker to reduce cooking time and energy use by 50 to 75 percent.

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To see more of the Akron Beacon Journal, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.ohio.com.

Copyright (c) 2005, The Akron Beacon Journal, Ohio

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Source: Akron Beacon Journal (Akron, Ohio)

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