Energy Efficient Products

Energy Efficient Products Worth Bragging About (or not)

There are a whole lot of energy efficient, environmentally friendly electrical, renewable battery charged and solar powered household products crowding the marketplace with their claims to save you money. Sure, a new HE washer or dryer will save you money on your water and electric bill, and you will use less detergent. A brand spanking new air conditioning unit or furnace will run cleaner and lower your electric bill. If I could get past the sticker shock and stop clutching my chest in fear that my heart will stop beating after hearing the price of these high end products, I might just go out and buy one! I don’t stick around long enough to hear the price of the warranty or, even better, the extended warranty. The extended warranty costs much more and in general reiterates that they are not going to cover anything they said they wouldn’t cover in the warranty you were issued in the first place. You just have to pay them more money to hear it again.

What gets me is that many of these products pay for themselves within 5-7 years. Isn’t that about the time all of the parts start to break down and the warranties and extended warranties have expired anyway? Now you have to pay for it all over again by replacing costly parts and paying for the repairman’s trip to Italy.

I simply can not justify buying some of these products if it is going to take that long for me to get a return on it. In the past 7 years I have bought a new a/c unit, a dishwasher, refrigerator, smooth top electric stove and an HE washing machine. I did not buy top of the line products, so a defibrillator was not necessary, and no one had to call the paramedics when I made my purchases. I generally purchased the middle priced items that fit into my budget. I figure the more you pay, the longer it will take for a return on the product, and by that time…it is almost time to buy a new one anyway!

I have had very good luck with my purchases and my electric and water bills are significantly less in comparison to others who do not have energy efficient products. I feel I did well with the middle priced purchases I have made.

My focus for the past 2 years has been to find a way to save more money on our water bill and on the amount of money it costs to heat our water. I have looked into solar powered hot water heaters, but… there I go again clutching my chest! It is too much of an investment for my meek budget and the return on it is 5-6 years down the road.

One day while searching online I stumbled upon the GE Hybrid Water Heater. It is affordable, you get big tax credits, and you can save up to 62% off of your water heating energy. There is a 1 yr warranty on parts, and a 10 year warranty on the unit. I especially liked this bit of information on their FAQ page: If cooling months exceed heating months, the user may experience additional energy savings beyond the Hybrid water heater based on the DOE standard. Now that got my attention! What this tells me is that since I live in Florida where the cooling months are much longer than the heating months, I will save $320.00/yr or more! Throw in the tax rebates and this unit could potentially pay for itself within 2 ½ -3 yrs. Now that is more like it! I urge you to take a look at it: http://www.geappliances.com/heat-pump-hot-water-heater/ , and let me know what you think.

Please leave a comment if you already own one of these units. I have not bought one yet, but I am considering buying one shortly after I return to work. GE isn’t paying me to pass this information on to you. I just thought this might be worth a second look.

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Comment by Dede on March 23, 2011 at 8:45am: Yes, you really have to do your research:) Good to implement if replacing old appliances.

Comment by Anita Rogers on March 23, 2011 at 8:35am: I heard they are really efficent and cost saving but the upstart cost is high and you might not see return on it for years to come.

Comment by Jennifer Lee on February 6, 2011 at 7:51pm: My BIL has been lusting after one of the tankless water heaters for a while. It makes sense that you would save on your electric bill because you are getting instant hot water instead of letting a regular hot water tank heat your water 24-7.

On the other hand, they are pricy. I looked at them before I got a regular HWH, but too much for my budget.

Comment by Susan Crafts on January 25, 2010 at 11:10pm: Thanks for your input Anna. I agree with you that reducing the temperature setting on a hot water heater will save money. I don't know anything about tankless hot water heaters, but given your reviews, I will steer clear of them! I only wish I could afford new windows and insulation to cut down our cooling costs! I am sure my electric bill would be greatly reduced if I were to replace the windows and sliding glass doors in my home. That project is far, far, far down on my list of remodel projects. Although, I "so want" new windows!!

Hopefully, we can get some input from our readers who have hybrid hot water heaters. I would love to hear the positive and the negative comments so I have something to contemplate before purchasing one myself.

Comment by Anna Hilpert on January 25, 2010 at 9:50pm: I haven't heard of the Hybrid water heater before. I really think the best way to save money on heating water is to get one of those programmable timers for it so it'll shut off when you're asleep or at work. And reduce the temperature on it to where it's bearably hot (instead of scalding!) and make sure it's well insulated. I work for a builder who has put in a lot of tankless water heaters, which seem real nice up front. But after reading real reviews from real people (and not the ones posted by the manufacturers), there's a lot of hidden costs that you would never consider (for instance, de-liming it once a year). I recently replaced our ancient, broken gas HVAC unit with a brand new spiffy electric one and also had Icynene spray foam insulation put on our roofline - the result is that our electric bill is $155 less than last January. If by some miracle we keep this rate up, it'd take just over 6 years to pay for the unit and insulation. Less if we count the $1500 tax credit. Not bad!! When trying to save money through utilities, remember that the majority of your heating/cooling goes through the roof. Next is wasted through windows and doors. You can still save money by replacing water heaters and such, but you're right.. the sticker price isn't friendly.