When electrical appliances were invented, the focus was more on the invention rather than power consumption. But as soon as electrical appliances became abundant, the need for making them power efficient was felt. Not only power consumption was the issue, but their size was too. For example, you won’t believe that unlike today’s laptop, the size of the initially developed ones was almost a wardrobe, and so did its power consumption. It is the virtue of modern technology that what power the initial computer has consumed, lighting the whole living room now costs much less.
Factors To Consider While Buying Electrical Appliances
While power rating is the fundamental criterion to dwell into the matter of power-efficient electrical appliances, there are also numerous factors that you need to consider while buying electrical appliances/equipment. Because it is the only way by which you can have power efficient appliances and can eventually save money. Following are some of the factors which you need to consider while shopping for electrical appliances:
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Choosing The Right Size
It may sound quite absurd to you but technically speaking, for high voltage AC appliances and various small appliances, size matters. For example, choosing a smaller cooling unit for a bigger room will make that appliance run for longer, and so does the consumption of power. On the other hand, if you buy an oversized appliance, it will cause that appliance to switch on and off on irregular cycles, and in this way, efficiency gets compromised. So, choosing the right size for the right application is the key.
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Energy Saving Feature
Whenever you are buying an electrical appliance and concerned about power consumption, do you look for the energy-saving feature, such as does this appliance offer energy saving or not? Take the example of a dishwasher where if dishes are slightly dirty, then the energy-saving feature will wash them with the light washing cycle. However, if it does not have the energy-saving feature, then a full-powered heavy washing cycle would run even for a light washing. Henceforth, by having an “eco” setting or energy-saving feature, your appliance would not only be consuming less power but less material too.
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Two Price Tags
While many people check for an upfront cost that they will pay for buying an electrical appliance, there is another perspective. Energy-efficient appliances may seem quite costly than the standard ones, but they do payback in the longer run. For example, imagine a $500 refrigerator annual running cost is about $400. But at the same time, you can save that running cost by picking up an energy-efficient refrigerator, which may cost around $700 but will incur you an annual running/operating cost of $300 or less.
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Design Of The Appliance
It is important to understand while shopping for electrical appliances that design does matter. It is a common understanding that the bigger the size more will be its energy consumption. According to energy experts, refrigerators having freezer either at the top or bottom are more efficient than those who have them side by side. In addition to this, those refrigerators that have added features, such as water dispenser and ice maker, consume more power and cut on energy saving.
In a world where there are a lot of options for choosing things of own liking, the idea of choosing a power-efficient electrical appliance is nothing less than the smart one. Because in years to come, our planet will experience an energy dilemma, and to cope with that, we need to prepare ourselves today. By having power efficient appliances, we would not only be saving a lot of money. Still, we will also be playing our part in making this world sustainable and healthy for generations to come.
An article by By Salah M. Al for Epistle News.
