Get Efficient With Other Appliances

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Quick Facts Affordability Cost Savings CO2 Reduction		In addition to the big six appliances – washer, dryer, fridge, freezer, dishwasher and oven – some households have small appliances that can be big energy draws. Garbage disposals, portable heaters and waterbeds are some of the most common. If you use any of these appliances, there are simple ways to make them more energy efficient. Affordability Using any of your appliances more efficiently will save energy and therefore money. Cost savings Waterbed heaters typically use about 900 kWh per year. If you switch to a regular bed, you could save $60 annually on your energy bill. Even making the bed with a comforter and insulating the sides can cut costs by 40%. Swap your space heater for an extra blanket in the bedroom. Shutting the heater off for one hour every night could save you $30 a year. Health & comfort Cutting out appliances that you don't need can make your home less cluttered and reduce your energy use. Environmental considerations If you don't need to use an electrical appliance to do a task, don't use one. Many jobs are just as easy to do manually and there are some great non-electrical kitchen tools you can use instead. Going without unnecessary appliances saves on production and disposal, the energy they use, and the cost of buying, storing and maintaining them.

What you need to know

In-sink garbage disposal

• In-sink 'garbarators' require a lot of water and can add a great volume of solids to a septic tank or municipal sewage treatment plant. Make a backyard compost pile or use an indoor kitchen worm composter as alternate methods of disposing food waste. Some municipalities sell pre-made plastic compost bins or you can build your own out of scrap wood.
• If you do run a garbage disposal, use only cold water. This saves hot water and solidifies grease, so it is easier to grind up and wash down the drain.

Waterbeds

• Electric coils under the mattress heat most waterbeds. The average waterbed heater uses about 900 kWh a year.
• Regularly making the bed with a comforter can save more than 30% of the energy used. Insulating the sides of the bed can save an additional 10%.
• By purchasing an insulating mattress cover you can save even more. In many cases, using a heater is not even necessary with an insulating mattress cover.
• If you have a temperature control, keep it turned down. If you don't have a temperature control, use a timer to limit the time the heat is on.

Portable space heaters

• Space heaters can work well for office workers and renters who don't have temperature control around their desk or living space. However, for general use, portable space heaters are not the best option. Besides being costly to operate, they can represent a serious fire safety hazard.
• If you are using a space heater, confine the amount of space you are heating. If you have a small room and keep the door closed, space heaters will work more efficiently than they will in a large or open space.
• Why turn on a big electricity user like a space heater when you can cuddle up with a blanket or wear a sweater inside the house? Put extra blankets on your bed instead of putting a space heater in the bedroom and save money – about $45/year at current electrical rates.
• If you do use a space heater, use an oil-filled radiator heater. These heaters warm oil inside internal chambers, and then radiate the heat, making them more energy efficient and less of a fire hazard than a fan based space heater.

FAQ

I live in a condo. If I use a kitchen composter instead of an in-sink garbage disposal, what do I do with the compost I generate?
There are various ways to make the most of your compost when you don't have a yard or garden, you can: use it in your house plants or window boxes, ask your building manager if you can use it to fertilize the landscaping around your building, take it to a community garden, or offer it to friends or neighbours, especially if you make the rich compost into a compost tea. The volume of compost you are likely to produce is not so large that getting rid of it will be a huge task.