The Trick To Buying Green Appliances

When you shop for a new refrigerator, the best buy is the lowest sales price, right?

Not necessarily.

If you buy the lowest-priced refrigerator, you may end up spending more than if you buy a more expensive one. The reason? The cost of owning a home appliance has three parts: the purchase price, the cost of repairs and maintenance, and the cost to run it.

Here’s an example of how an appliance’s energy consumption can affect total costs.

Suppose you’re buying a new refrigerator-freezer. Different models with the same capacity can vary dramatically in the amount of electricity they use. For one popular size and configuration, the annual electricity consumption varies across models from a low of about 600 kilowatt-hours a year to a high of more than 800 kilowatt-hours a year. Based on national average electricity prices, the annual cost to operate this refrigerator can range from about $50 to $70 in Kentucky, depending on which model you buy.

A $20 difference in annual operating costs might not sound like much. But you will enjoy these savings year after year for the life of the appliance. As a result, you may actually save money by buying the more expensive, more energy-efficient model.

You can learn about the efficiency of an appliance through the yellow-and-black EnergyGuide label that is required on many appliances.

Some appliances may also feature the ENERGY STAR logo, which means that the appliance is significantly more energy efficient than the average comparable model. To compare how updating appliances and making other changes around your home can impact your electric bill, visit www.TogetherWeSave.com.