HOW TO CHOOSE YOUR KITCHEN APPLIANCES
When updating a kitchen or laundry room, you’ll need to make important decisions about household appliances. Below are some factors that you should use to evaluate and compare different household appliances.
Appliance Energy Efficiency
It makes a great deal of sense to evaluate carefully your appliance choices according to energy efficiency.
For some appliances, you have a choice between natural gas or electricity as a power source. In general, gas is a less expensive source for any activity involving heating such as dryers, hot water heaters and furnaces. Even if your home is not currently hooked up to a gas line, check with the gas company before ruling out gas appliances. The utility company may be able to connect your home.
Energy efficiencies are also based upon the materials the appliance is made from. Different materials heat and cool at different rates. The amount and type of insulation used in the appliance is another important factor. The appliance labels should detail this information.
Appliance Size
Choosing an appliance that is the right size is important. In general, if energy is expended to accommodate a small, specific space, rather than a large one, energy savings will accrue. Most appliances come with energy labels. These are bright yellow labels that indicate the average total cost of energy the appliance consumes per year.
Finally, there is the issue of speed, the faster the machine completes its task the less time it consumes energy. This is one of the reasons that microwaves are so energy efficient.
