(article written by my wife, Elizabeth)
In Montgomery County, approximately 1/3 of our greenhouse gas emissions come from our homes. Refrigerators use the most energy out of all home appliances. If you want to reduce your carbon footprint, pay close attention to your refrigerator. According to Pepco, a refrigerator purchased prior to 1993 often uses more than twice the energy of a new ENERGY STAR qualified model. On average, a unit from that era costs over $50 MORE per year to operate than the latest efficient models. Models from 1980 and earlier are estimated to cost an ADDITIONAL $150 to operate annually!
Excess use of energy and the wear and tear on your wallet can really add up. Utilities in some parts of the US and in other countries are actually paying customers to get rid of these old refrigerators. Unfortunately, I have not been able to find any references to this kind of “cash for clunkers” in Maryland. However, many new refrigerators do qualify for special energy star rebates.
If you are keeping that extra refrigerator or freezer around simply for convenience, think this through very carefully. We all really do not to be paying attention to how much energy we use. And take a close look at Pepco’s Home Energy Savings details to determine what you should do about the refrigerator in your kitchen. Go to http://homeenergysavings.pepco.com/md/faq#refrigerator .
Your neighbor is not going to peek into your home to see what you are doing – and neither will this editor. But all of your neighbors will benefit when we all take steps to reduce our impact on our fair planet. AND – KEEP THAT REFRIGERATOR DOOR CLOSED!
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