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BTC
Study Confirms Savings from
ENERGY STAR Clothes Washers
A DOE-sponsored
demonstration of an energy-efficient washer in a Boston suburb has
produced such striking results that the Massachusetts legislature
is using the research results to support a bill that would make
ENERGY STAR appliances tax-exempt in that state.
The
study was conducted in
late 2000 in a Reading, Massachusetts, apartment
complex using high-efficiency clothes washers. The study—a
partnership between DOE, Maytag Appliances, and the residents of
the apartment complex—was similar to a 1997 study in rural
Bern, Kansas, also conducted by the BTC group.
In
both studies, the researchers monitored energy and water use before
and after installation of Maytag’s Neptune washer. The two studies
found similar savings in both the rural and the urban settings:
Water
and energy savings of ENERGY STAR washers
compared with conventional washers
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Bern
1997 |
Boston
2000 |
| Energy
savings |
56% |
50% |
| Water
savings |
38% |
41% |
| Annual
water savings for town/municipality |
640,000 gallons |
1.5
billion gallons |
In
the Boston study, dryers used 22% less energy to dry clothes washed
in the new washers, partially because the faster spin cycle removed
more water. The new washing machines also used 20% less detergent.
Such savings could have large ramifications: for instance, if every
Boston household used energy-efficient washers, Boston could save
enough power to run 14,000 homes.
Studies
like these, which have been widely reported in the media, are helping
spur appliance manufacturers to offer super-efficient clothes washers
and state legislatures to consider tax incentives for efficient
appliances will attract consumer interest in such technologies.
Consumers, the environment, and the nation are the winners.
For
more information, contact John Tomlinson (tomlinsonjj@ornl.gov)
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