The American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE) released a striking report indicating that household devices in the U.S., such as TVs, computers and ice makers, use more energy than what 200 countries, including Mexico, Australia and New Zealand, use to power their economies.
Thankfully, the findings of the report entitled “Miscellaneous Energy Loads in Buildings” do trigger some positive remarks. As the lead author, Sameer Kwatra, states, there are many possibilities for users to switch to energy saving products, reducing the energy consumption of these devices by up to 50%. This amount of saved energy equals the total annual energy consumption of Argentina.
However, not all of these devices have efficiency measures, which makes the efforts to increase their energy efficiency often much greater. These typical household products are referred to as miscellaneous energy loads, because they are not part of the traditional energy-use categories.
In addition, only a few of them are covered by federal energy efficiency standards, while TVs and computer monitors have voluntary efficiency specifications.
The good news is that after Prsident Obama announced the new goals for energy efficiency, there is hope for improvement of efficiency standards. The first targets are elevators and medical devices.
The report urges manufacturers to push innovation, and make sure that the latest products on the market are the most energy efficient ones. Moreover, the miscellaneous devices will make a great addition to any energy efficiency portfolio of a company. This will target consumers directly, and it will hopefully contribute to modification of consumption habits.
The director of ACEEE, Jennifer Amann, adds that making these devices as efficient as possible, could not only help the nation in the common battle against climate change, but it will save energy consumers unnecessary expenses.
