Welcome to the best green refrigerators of 2008! Within this post you will discover the next two refrigerators on the top ten list.

9) Bosch – Evolution 800 Series Refrigerator [www.boschappliances.com]

In addition to being one of the most energy efficient fridges in this top ten list, this fridge features some fancy configuration options that make every day food storage better. The fridge has a programmable computer on it that allows you to setup minimum energy consumption settings when you go away on vacations. You can also easily adjust the temperature of separate enclosed areas within the fridge, which is really useful for certain types of food that require different temperature and humidity levels. Bosch is also a German company with a good reputation of making sturdy components, resulting in long-lasting appliances.

Frigidaire – GLHS68EJ [www.frigidaire.com] – Standard Depth Side by Side Refrigerator.

This fancy fridge features a smooth and streamlined interior that is designed to be very customizable, with many moving shelves and bins. This fridge has two very interesting capabilities that deserve your attention. The air in this fridge is constantly purified by a built in air-filter unit. The air inside your fridge keeps everything fresher and tasting better. When the air is purified, this insures your food stays good longer and keeps unwanted bacteria and rot that can turn your stomach. Since the fridge also has a water dispenser, it makes sense that this the fridge also contains a water purifier unit. You can think of this fridge as a full service nourishment center.

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Remember, if you want to replace your old fridge, you can use the Refrigerator Retirement Savings Calculator [www.energystar.gov] from the EPA’s Energy Star Website. This tool allows you to assess whether it is time for you to upgrade. If you have the model number for your fridge handy, it will be quick and easy to figure out.

You do not always have to start from scratch when you want to save energy. While it is true that building a LEED certified building from the ground up can net you the best energy efficiency for your heating and cooling needs, you can get really close to that same efficiency by investing in new gadgets to modernize your existing home. The EPA encourages people to get to know their programmable thermostats.

EPA’s research has shown that most consumers with programmable thermostats do not know how to use them to maximize energy savings. When programmed properly, these products can save about $180 a year on energy bills – but the majority of consumers have not achieved their full energy and dollar savings potential.

As part of ENERGY STAR’s year-long Change the World, Start with ENERGY STAR campaign EPA has developed proper use guidelines for programmable thermostats, which include:
- Lower the temperature setting by 8 degrees when you’re away or asleep in the winter.
- Raise the temperature setting by 7 degrees when you’re away and 4 degrees when you’re asleep in the summer.
- Save even more by using the “Vacation” and “Hold” features to manage temperatures while you’re away from home for an extended period.

Starting June 5th, EPA will also provide consumers with valuable tips and resources to help them get on the right track. The following info will be available at www.energystar.gov.

If you prefer a visual tutorial on thermostats, check out this video from the EPA.

To improve the efficiency of your lifestyle in other ways, you can find more strategies and product recommendations here [www.energystar.gov].

There has been a lot of grumbling about the US governments seemingly sluggish response to the world wide climate crisis occurring in today’s world. While it is important to demand leadership and excellence on environmental issues, it is also important to applaud and support the government when it partakes in initiatives that could actually produce really positive results. The EPA is really beginning to start some great programs on their website. One of these programs is a new function of the EPA website called the Energy Star Home Advisor.

Photo from EPA.gov

The “Energy Star Home Advisor,” allows Americans to type in information about their geographic locations and the types of energy solutions they have in their home. The Advisor then searches its database of tips that specifically relate to the information entered by the citizen. This feature provides tips, links to specific products that save money and finishes with a chart of percentages that list energy savings. This chart includes “Your potential total energy savings”, “Your potential electricity savings”, “Your potential fuel savings”, and “Your carbon emission reduction potential”.

If every American supported this new feature on the EPA website, it might prompt the EPA to continue to upgrade this cool little program. Praise can sometimes keep the conveyor belt of goodness rolling. Make sure to check out the Energy Star Home Advisor [www.energystar.gov].

Thanks for spending time on the Green Blog and please consider commenting on these posts with any additional information or questions that could help create positive environmental movement around the issues covered by this post.

In case you have heard about Energy Star but aren’t sure what it means, this is a joint program by the US Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Energy designed to encourage the use of energy-saving appliances, building supplies and other products. To receive an official “Energy Star” badge, each of these products must adhere to specific guidelines for energy usage. Since these standards are relative to other products in the same category, you’ll always know you’re buying the most efficient products available. Such products are not only good for the environment, they can also help you save money on your energy bills. To learn more, visit the official Energy Star web site below.

EnergyStar.gov Website [www.energystar.gov].

Investigating this site is a key part of any plan to be sustainable or to use the “green” resources that are supplied by the US government. You can use this site to find rebates, lists of Energy Star-badged products, to outfit your home with money saving features or to find out about tax rebates that you may qualify for with energy efficient technologies. In the consummate American style, individuals have to lead the charge on being green, as there is no socialized imperative for saving energy besides self-interest.

After availing yourself of these governmental resources, you may consider checking out a site called GreenEnergyTV [www.greenenergytv.com]. This site contains a growing archive of videos about all types of environmental topics, including one very funny video about a Pedal Powered Television, which might make all those exercise TV shows obsolete.

It’s easy for people like us TreeHuggers to sit back and say, “Follow our advice; be greener; it’s better.” We have good reasons for saying so — things like using less energy, reducing greenhouse gas output and lowering our individual and collective ecological footprint — but those are sometimes difficult to contextualize and put into practice in a meaningful, everyday sort of way. Let’s take a look, then, at some context for what we’re talking about, as we look at home energy use, by the numbers.

It’s easy to forget that the appliances and systems in our homes have two price tags: one on display at the store, and one in our energy bill every month. It’s also easy to forget that the second one really adds up over time, and that buying the cheaper product (at the point of sale) may end up costing you more over its lifespan in utility bills (not to mention the increase carbon footprint it has from hogging all that extra energy). The US Environmental Protection Agency’s Energy Star program and accompanying label is an easy, effective way to cut back on this phenomenon; in case you don’t believe us; here are some of the numbers.

$1,900 per year — the amount the average home spends in energy costs.
$110 per year — the amount that using an Energy Star clothes washer can save you.
18-25 gallons — the amount, in water, that most Energy Star clothes washers uses per cycle.
40 gallons — the amount, in water, that an average conventional washer uses per cycle.
$30 per year — the amount you can save by replacing a dishwasher manufactured before 1994 with an Energy Star qualified dishwasher.
$90 — the amount, over its lifetime, that using an Energy Star dishwasher will save you by using less hot water.
Four months — the amount of time you could light an average house with the energy saved by replacing a refrigerator bought in 1990. Check out Energy Star’s Refrigerator Retirement Savings Calculator [www.energystar.gov] to get more numbers.
$25 per year — the amount you can save by replacing a 10 year-old room air conditioner (those that go in the window, usually) with an Energy Star model.
40% — the amount of all electricity used to power home electronics that is consumed while the products are turned off (there’s that pesky phantom power [www.sundancechannel.com] again).
17 power plants[/url] — the equivalent output that this wasted energy equals each year across the US.
[b]Seven — the average number of home electronics — 2 TVs, a VCR, DVD player and 3 telephones — in US homes.
25 billion pounds — the amount of greenhouse gas emissions that would be saved if these items were replaced by Energy Star models.
3 million cars — the equivalent, in greenhouse gas emissions, that the above action would take off the road.
1.7 million acres — the equivalent amount of new trees planted that would result from just one in 10 homes using Energy Star-qualified products.

We could go on and on, but we hope you’re starting to get the idea. Look for the yellow guide above to help you when shopping and doing the math for replacement costs (old ones will have much higher numbers than new ones, and remember: little changes really can make a really big difference, when you start adding a few of them up. And you don’t even have to do it because you care about the planet; you can do it because you’re tired of wasting money. Either way, you’ll be more (and have more) green.