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The Rural Missouri NEWS Service April 2007 | June 2007 | September 2007 | October 2007 | November 2007 | December 2007 |
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November 2007 Introducing…Plug in to energy efficiency With this issue of Rural Missouri, we introduce a new feature, “Plug in to Energy Efficiency,” loaded with tips on how you can save energy dollars. Improving efficiency also means you can help your electric cooperative reduce load demand for electricity, which in turn can help reduce the need for new power plants. Simple changes you make can ensure you buy only the energy you need and truly need all the electricity you buy — without sacrificing comfort or convenience. Over the next year, watch for columns on compact fluorescent light bulbs, preparing for winter’s chills or summer’s heat wave, buying an efficient air conditioner and more. The column: Changing your energy hog to an energy sipper It’s time to talk refrigerators. Your 1990 model — or perhaps your olive green model from the earthy 1970s — is showing its age. Or maybe buying a new refrigerator hasn’t been top of mind yet but should be. The refrigerator world has changed a lot since you last shopped for a fridge. You’ll want to do your homework to get the most for your money. Let’s start with some cold — and not so cold — hard facts. Refrigerators are the energy hogs of your kitchen, and there are about 132 million of them in the U.S. Between 10 million and 11 million — including stand-alone freezers — are replaced each year. Each refrigerator, whether in the kitchen or retired to the basement or garage, consumes 8 percent to 10 percent of your home’s energy. It’s the appliance that uses the most electricity in your house, so replacing a model that’s 10 years to 15 years old can shave $50 to $70 a year off your electric bill. A new refrigerator with automatic defrost and top-mounted freezer typically costs $55 a year to run. In contrast, a model from the early 1970s costs $160 a year to run. Finally, if you’re still not convinced “new uses less,” even the most expensive new refrigerator (sticker price) could save you $750 in energy costs over 15 years. Using a refrigerator savings calculator at www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?fuseaction=refrig.calculator, you can get a good idea of just how much energy you can save. For example, in comparing a 1992 model with a 2007 Energy Star model, the results were $87 a year to run the old model versus $33 a year for the new. Sidebar 1: Hot tips on buying a cool fridge Understand the labels – Zero in on the bright yellow EnergyGuide label on each model and on some models an Energy Star sticker. The EnergyGuide label shows about how much energy a particular model uses. Refrigerators of the same size can use between 600 kwh and 800 kwh a year. Buying the most efficient model available might save enough electricity over the fridge’s lifetime to pay your household’s total electric bill for four months at current rates. It pays to read the labels. Energy Star is a joint program of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). In August 2007, they announced new criteria for Energy Star refrigerators. Effective April 28, 2008, Energy Star appliances must use at least 20 percent less energy than current federal efficiency standards. That’s up from 15 percent, which was set in 2004. DOE estimates the savings on electricity should offset any additional cost for Energy Star refrigerators within five years. DOE projects 2.2 million Energy Star refrigerators at the 20 percent standard will be sold in the first year — saving families up to $23.5 million annually on electric bills and saving more than 230 million kwh of energy, which the DOE says is enough to light every household in Washington, D.C., for more than five months. There are plenty of Energy Star models to choose from: more than half of all available refrigerator models are Energy Star qualified. You can find a list of all the models at www.energystar.gov. Buy only what you need - Refrigerators are a whole lot bigger now, with many more features and gadgets. Sure, the automatic defrosters, anti-sweat devices, external ice makers and water dispensers and side-by-side freezers are convenient, but they’re the reason refrigerators are the energy hogs of the kitchen. Just remember, smaller means less electricity. And keep in mind that some of those gadgets, like an icemaker, reduce usable space, in this case by a cubic foot. Do you really need all those extras? Here are some facts to help you weigh the benefits and costs of the extras:
Check out Consumer Reports and the Web – The July 2007 issue of Consumer Reports rates refrigerators; if you subscribe, you also can access the information at www.consumerreports.org, which also has buying tips. If you search for “energy efficient refrigerators” on the Web, you’ll be amazed at the number of sites and resources. Here are some good Web resources:
Every refrigerator manufacturer has its own Web site. Be careful not to rely totally on the information from one such site, as it may be skewed in favor of that maker’s models. Calculate your savings - Once you’ve selected a model, use the handy refrigerator retirement calculator at the Energy Star site at www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?fuseaction=refrig.calculator to find out what you can save in electricity over your current model. For example, a 2007 model replacing a 1992 model would cost $33 a year to run versus $87 a year to run. At www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=refrig.pr_refrigerators, you can download an Excel file that allows you to calculate the lifetime savings of an Energy Star unit vs. a conventional model. Sidebar #2: Features and efficiency Refrigerators have gotten so darn fancy that we forget simple still does the trick. When you’re shopping for your new fridge, consider the following facts about features and efficiency. Then ask yourself whether you really need those features. According to the Energy Star Web site, manual-defrost refrigerators use half the energy of automatic-defrost models but must be defrosted periodically to realize energy savings. Don’t allow the frost to build up more than one-quarter inch. Automatic-defrost refrigerators, which use an internal heater to melt ice from the coils, use more than 600 watts for a short period during the defrost cycle, costing about 12 percent more energy. Models with an anti-sweat heater consume 5 percent to 10 percent more energy. Look for a model with an energy saver switch that allows you to turn off or turn down the heating coils that prevent condensation. Also look for models with an automatic moisture control. Top freezer models use 10 percent to 25 percent less energy than side-by-side models. Through-the-door ice dispensers use 5 percent to 10 percent more energy. Automatic ice-makers and through-the-door dispensers use 14 to 20 percent more energy and increase the purchase price $75 to $250. Freezers use much more energy than refrigerators per unit of volume. If two refrigerator-freezers have the same total volume, but different sized freezers, they will use different amounts of energy. The most energy-efficient models are 16 cubic feet to 20 cubic feet. It’s less costly to run one larger refrigerator than two smaller ones, so saving your old fridge and leaving it plugged will cost you more. Sidebar #3: Squeeze out more efficiency from your old fridge So you just can’t swing buying a new refrigerator this year, even though you would notice a difference in your electric bill. Here’s how to get the most efficiency out of your current refrigerator:
Sidebar #4: Recycling your old fridge or freezer So you’ve made the decision to buy a new refrigerator. What do you and the 10 million other Americans replacing refrigerators do with the old one? Well DON’T simply move it to the basement or garage and hook it back up to the electric grid. Turns out it would have lots of company: the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates there are 23 million second refrigerators and freezers in basements and garages in the United States. Most of them are older, less efficient models used to keep a few trays if ice cubes or a six pack cold. Not a very efficient use of the old fridge by any measure. Up to 40 percent of discarded refrigerators are re-sold and put back on the electricity grid or exported to developing countries. Although it might be convenient to keep your old fridge, when you consider how much energy it consumes, it's hard to justify the expense of keeping it running. Replacing a 20-year-old second refrigerator with an Energy Star unit can save up to 700 kwh a year. Doing without a second refrigerator can save you up to 1,139 kwh per year. Recycling fridges is good for the environment- Recycling refrigerators also helps reduce the electricity it takes to produce aluminum and refine copper. The average refrigerator contains 3 pounds of aluminum and 1 pound of copper. Using the recycled materials from just one refrigerator can save an average 33 kwh in metal production costs. Now don’t use “inability to recycle” as an excuse for not buying a new refrigerator. There’s good news for those of us concerned about landfills brimming with discarded refrigerators. EPA regulations require removal and proper disposal of the coolant in refrigerators. Before 2003, those coolants contained chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs), which damage the Earth’s protective ozone layer. Today’s refrigerators contain hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), which have little impact on the ozone layer but can contribute to greenhouse gases that trap heat in the Earth’s atmosphere. So regardless of how old your fridge is, the coolants need to be properly disposed. Whoever picks up the old fridge should handle the coolant removal. There may, however, be a fee. If you’re buying a new unit from a retailer, chances are the retailer will take away your old unit. If not, your trash hauler or a recycler can pick up your old fridge, once you’ve removed the door (to prevent a child from being trapped inside). After the coolant is removed, most refrigerators go to the scrap yard where they are fed into an auto shredder. At least 20 percent of the blowing agent in the foam insulation, itself an ozone-depleting substance, is emitted to the atmosphere. Magnets recover ferrous metals, and other methods recover other useful metals from the shredded refrigerators for recycling. The remaining material is mainly a combination of recyclable plastics and polyurethane foam, typically sent to a landfill because the shredding process mixes it, making it too costly to separate for recycling. As a result, more than 80 percent of your old refrigerator is likely to be recycled. In summary, here are the energy savings EPA says you realize by replacing and recycling old refrigerators:
Sidebar #5: Questions to ask when shopping for a new fridge Here are some helpful questions to ask the refrigerator salesperson before you buy:
Census gives farmers a voice America’s farmers and ranchers will soon have the opportunity to participate in shaping the future of agriculture. The National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) will begin distribution of the 2007 Census of Agriculture later this year. “The Census of Agriculture provides information that is not available anywhere else — information that benefits agricultural producers and their communities in myriad ways,” said NASS Administrator Ron Bosecker. “For instance, policymakers use census data for decisions concerning agricultural and rural programs. Community planners use census information to target delivery of local services. Companies rely on census data when determining where to locate their operations. And farmers themselves look at census data when deciding to make changes in their production strategies.” Conducted every five years by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the census is a complete count of the nation’s farms and ranches and the people who operate them. The census looks at land use and ownership, operator characteristics, production practices, income and expenditures and other topics. It provides the only source of uniform, comprehensive agricultural data for every county in the nation. NASS will mail out census forms on Dec. 28 to collect data for the 2007 calendar year. Completed forms are due by Feb. 4. Producers can return their forms by mail or, for the first time, they have the convenient option of filling out the census online via a secure Web site. “We’re committed to making this Census the best count ever. It’s about the future of U.S. agriculture and our nation’s rural communities,” Bosecker said. “Regardless of how large or small their operation is or what kinds of products they produce, farmers and ranchers will help themselves and their communities by filling out the Census of Agriculture and returning it promptly,” he added. “We want farmers and ranchers to know the census is their voice, their future and their responsibility.” For more information about the 2007 Census of Agriculture, please call (800) 727-9540 or visit www.agcensus.usda.gov. Electric safety and the family pet Your family pet can turn just about anything it finds into a play or chew toy. Let’s make sure your pets don’t add electrical devices to their toy chest. A frisky dog or curious cat can cause an electrical hazard or fire in ways you may not have thought about. Consider this safety checklist when making a place for pets in your home:
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