# Bibliography 3: Appliances and Energy

My next blog post will be about how to save electricity and money by buying newer appliances. And while that might seem like a rather consumerist statement, appliances are a major drain of electricity and the older they are, the less efficient they are. I want to compare new eco-friendly efficient models of appliances with their older counterparts. I think a lot of people have heard the common ways to reduce your electricity needs by shutting off the lights when you are done with them or not cranking the a/c, but sometimes the only way to see true savings in both electricity/water usage  is to buy newer models. I think the audience of this blog is people who are buying homes and looking to renovate. Also, this is good for businesses because they have capital available to make investments that might now pay off completely for a few years.

My first sources is Kitchen Appliances . This is a credible sources because it is published by the United States government. Also, there is no bias because Energy Star is not a brand, rather a program run by the EPA that identifies brands that are efficient and reduce pollution. Dishwashers made before 1994 use more than 10 gallons per cycle, whereas Energy Star dishwashers have to use less than 4.25 gallons.  Another piece of data that I found interesting from this website is that an Energy Star refrigerator uses 40% less energy than standard models made in 2001. Using this information I can  calculate the average difference between the old models and the new models.

My second source is The Natural Resources Defense Council .  This is a credible source because it is an organization that is dedicated to reducing unnecessary resource usage. It is a website that has a lot of empirical data for a variety of products (fridge, washer, etc). If you replace a washing machine made before 1994 with an energy star model is can save a family $110 per year. They use 50% less energy and approximately 17 less gallons of water to run. Replacing a 10 year old air conditioner can reduce the electricity bill by$14.  Water heaters comprise 14% of your electric bill alone and if they are older than 10 years, they can be less than 50% efficient. Getting a new one could potentially substantially reduce your electric bill.

My third source is Where Does My Money Go . This source is credible because it is published by the EPA which is the Environmental Protection Agency which is a federal agency. A lot of my data relies of percentage decrease and this site provides statistics on how much the average US household spends on energy a year. The bill usually totals around \$2,060. 13% going towards water heating, 13% for cooling, 12% for appliances, 12% for lighting, 21% for electronics, and 29% for heating. With this information I can calculate how much each section of the bill costs and then, using my other data, calculate the potential savings from upgrading appliances.

All of my sources connect because they give me information necessary to make calculations to see the energy savings and financial savings of getting newer appliances. Also, they give me enough background information to present the data I compute into easily understandable terms. For example, I will be calculating everything in annually because that is the way that most average electric usage/savings are reported.

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