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If you’ve bought a thermostat for your home in the past few years, it’s likely programmable. Using this function is a great way to reduce your energy use. By programming the thermostat up or down a few degrees while you are away at work, you could use less electricity and save money on your utility bill.
What if you could take similar technology and apply it to other home appliances, such as your dryer or refrigerator?
A new generation of “smart” appliances is on the horizon. These appliances “talk” to smart meters installed at your home by your utility company. Unlike traditional meters, smart meters enable the utility to communicate dynamic, time-of-use electricity pricing to your home. Because it costs the utility more money to produce electricity at certain times of the day, it makes sense that your rate would vary too. A smart meter could communicate varying rates throughout the day, providing you with a bit more control over what you spend.
With a smart meter and dynamic pricing, you could actually program these smart appliances to operate some of their non-critical, high-consuming functions only when electricity is cheapest.
For example, your dryer may automatically switch from high heat to "fluff" if electricity hits a certain per-kilowatt-hour rate—even if you're at work. Or, the automatic defrost on your refrigerator could delay itself, even if you are across the country. If the freezer delays the defrost cycle until after peak energy hours, consumers pay less for the same amount of kilowatts.
Some appliance manufacturers have already begun innovating smarter appliances. But until smart meters are available in your community, you’ll have to wait to enjoy this full functionality. Learn more.
Until then, there are a few ways to get a handle on your home appliance energy costs. One is by understanding the information that’s printed on the appliance’s EnergyGuide label, or by looking for the ENERGY STAR® label.
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission requires EnergyGuide labels on most home appliances and are designed to help consumers make educated choices about the energy costs associated with the products they buy. There are a few basic pieces of information on the EnergyGuide label that make it useful when comparing appliances:
Estimated Yearly Operating Costs: This figure is the amount you might pay to run the appliance for a year. The key word here is might. This figure is based on the national average price of electricity. So, if you live in Hawaii where the cost of electricity is highest in the US, your operating cost will be significantly higher than it will be for someone running the same appliance in, say, Wyoming where electricity costs are among the nation’s lowest.
Estimated Yearly Electricity Use: To get a more accurate picture of the anticipated costs for running an appliance in your home, take the Estimated Yearly Electrical Use figure and multiply it by your local electricity rate. You can find your rate on your monthly electrical bill.
Review this graphic from the Federal Trade Commission’s web site to understand all of the information this little yellow sticker contains.
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