Whether it's a splash screen on your monitor when you boot up your PC or a sticker on something
for sale at a big box store, you've probably seen that familiar blue energy star logo.
It feels like home. Let's be honest, energy efficiency probably isn't
at the top of your list of concerns when choosing a gadget to buy,
but it must be appearing everywhere for a reason, right?
So Energy Star is a US government initiative introduced
by the Environmental Protection Agency all the way back in 1992.
And although it's an American creation, the program also exists in Canada, Switzerland, Japan
and Taiwan. The idea is to label energy efficient products
from light bulbs to PCs to even whole buildings.
And even if you don't care about the environment because it's got too many bugs or whatever,
the certification is also designed to help you save money on your power bill.
So. And the program does this by setting specific standards
for different product categories. So let's go through what this means for you,
starting with PCs and their power supplies. This one will be pretty easy to remember
for any of you who have built or upgraded a computer before. An energy star certified PC has to perform
at least at an 80 plus bronze level. This means it has to run at 82% efficiency
at 20% or 100% load and 85% efficiency at 50% load.
If you're all squared away with your PC, but you're in the market for a TV instead,
Energy Star follows a more complicated formula to determine if it's compliant.
Given that power sucking CRT monitors are obsolete,
the requirements are fairly unforgiving. A 55 inch TV can't consume more than 57 watts
and a 65 inch TV can't use more than 69 watts.
Nice. And even though most TVs these days still connect to the internet even while they're turned off,
Energy Star TVs can't use more than three watts
in this state. But let's say you found your soulmate finally on OKCupid
and it's time to go out and buy a washer together.
Energy Star quantifies these with something called energy factors,
numbers that are calculated mostly based on how much energy they consume per pound of clothes.
These energy factors aren't really useful for consumers, but certified washers are supposed to use 25% less energy
and one third less water than non-certified models.
While certified dryers should save you about 20% on your power bill.
So you know how your parents were always yelling at you to turn off the lights to save money?
Light bulbs have been a focal point for change in recent years. We went from old school incandescent bulbs
to those spring looking CFLs to modern LEDs
in a relatively short amount of time. Pretty much all new LED bulbs are far more energy efficient
than older technologies, whether they're Energy Star or not. The difference is you're supposed to expect Energy Star bulbs
to actually last as long as they say they will in the box, at least 15,000 hours
and retain a certain percentage of their original brightness over time.
They also can't draw more than half a watt when they're turned off, what did daddy like?
But you'll need a place to put all this stuff, so maybe you'll end up looking into an Energy Star house?
Through better insulation, ceiling and Windows, as well as more efficient HVAC systems,
they should be between 20 and 30% more efficient
than non-certified homes. But how do you know that all this stuff actually meets
the stated energy targets? I mean, it did used to be the case that products could be certified without testing,
which doesn't make any sense. But now, testing of all products has to be done
in an approved lab before they get the Energy Star badge.
And random off-the-shelf testing is also done to make sure companies aren't sending in cherry-picked products
or slacking after they get the certification. Okay, sounds good, but is paying extra
for Energy Star gadgets worth it in terms of how much power you'll save?
The answer is, it depends.
Energy Star products will certainly use much less power than devices from 20 or so years ago,
but when comparing modern products to each other, the differences between compliant and non-compliant models
may or may not be all that compelling. Check and see what energy prices are like in your area
and exactly how much power each product consumes before shelling out more money
just to get something labeled Energy Star. I don't want any of you to buy a $2,000 fridge
just so you can save two bucks before it dies because the Wi-Fi crapped itself.
Fridges have Wi-Fi now. Hey, that's it for this one. Thanks for watching, guys.
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