Laundry Made Better with ENERGY STAR

 Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Best Buy and ENERGY STAR®. Opinions are my own.

As I got older I began to understand the ramifications of owning appliances that were not energy-efficient. Not only do these appliances cost more to operate, but they are tough on our environment as well. Almost all my appliances come from Best Buy because they are committed to positively impacting the environment and its communities. They provide a large assortment of sustainable products including energy-efficient products such as ENERGY STAR® certified washers and dryers.

ENERGY STAR is better for you

When you own ENERGY STAR certified clothes washer and drivers you save on your energy bills. The features that many of these appliances are equipped with makes cleaning and drying easier and more effective. You can save $490 over the lifetime of an ENERGY STAR certified clothes washer and even more with an ENERGY STAR washer/dryer pair. Saving you money is always better.

ENERGY STAR is better for the environment

When you save energy with certified ENERGY STAR washers and dryers you help protect the climate giving your children and the planet benefits for years to come.  In fact, ENERGY STAR models are 25% and 20% more efficient, respectively, than standard models.

ENERGY STAR is better for your clothes

The ENERGY STAR washer’s offer many cycle choices geared to being gentler on your clothes and the ENERGY STAR dryers use less heat and sensor drying which reduces wear and tear on clothes from over-drying. Due to the wide range of advanced cycle choices these models offer they deliver superior efficiency and performance.

ENERGY STAR Washers

An ENERGY STAR washer use 25% less energy and approximately 45% less water than standard models and will save you about $45 a year on your utility bills compared to a standard model.

Over the lifetime of the product, an ENERGY STAR certified clothes washer saves:

o   1,100 kWh and more than 2.5 million BTUs of natural gas,

o   33,000 gallons of water,

o   $490 over the product’s lifetime.

If all clothes washers sold in the U.S. were ENERGY STAR certified, we would save more than $4 billion each year and prevent more than 19 billion pounds of carbon pollution annually. This is equal to the emissions from 1.7 million vehicles.

ENERGY STAR certified clothes washers incorporate the following advanced features:

• Multiple configurations– ENERGY STAR certified clothes washers are available in either front-load or redesigned top-load configurations which include technology innovations that help save energy and water.
• Sophisticated wash systems– ENERGY STAR certified top-load machines clean your clothing just like standard models without wasting water to fill up the tub. Instead, these machines use sophisticated wash systems to cycle clothes through a mixture of water and detergent, allowing the clothes to be cleaned without using excess water or detergent.
• No central agitator– Front-load machines tumble clothes through a small amount of water instead of rubbing clothes against an agitator, while advanced top-load machines lift and tumble clothes through a reduced stream of water. Both designs dramatically reduce the amount of hot water and energy used in the wash cycle.
• High spin speeds– Efficient motors spin clothes two to three times faster to extract more water. Less moisture in the clothes means less time in the dryer and less energy spent drying clothes.
• Long live your clothes– Front-load and advanced top-load clothes washers’ sophisticated wash systems use a variety of methods to lift and tumble your laundry, lengthening the life of often-washed items. Additionally, because they are so gentle, many models can safely clean silk, wool, and other hand-washables.

ENERGY STAR Dryers

ENERGY STAR dryers use approximately 20% less energy than standard models.

If all clothes dryers sold in the U.S. were ENERGY STAR certified, the energy cost savings would grow to more than $1.5 billion each year and 22 billion pounds of annual carbon pollution would be prevented.  This is equal to the emissions from 2 million vehicles.

ENERGY STAR certified clothes dryers incorporate the following advanced features:

• Low Heat Setting– Longer drying cycles on a low heat setting use less energy. When you purchase an ENERGY STAR certified clothes dryer, look for the cycle that uses the least amount of energy, sometimes known as the “energy-saving” selection.
• Steam Cycles– Many ENERGY STAR dryers also include convenient features, such as a steam cycle that can help save time on ironing clothes by preventing wrinkles.

Check out the fun video created by the @BestBuyCSR team on their blog by clicking here.

Follow @BestBuyCSR and @ENERGYSTAR  on Twitter!