Green is everywhere these days. Utilities are producing green power (read: wind, solar or biomass), Detroit is developing versions of green cars and the Democratic Party is planning a green convention in Denver in August.But going green can start at home -- in the laundry room, the family room, the office and the kitchen. And it doesn't require massive solar panels attached to the roof.You can take small steps -- say, buy a more energy-efficient appliance. In some cases, you could end up shelling out extra bucks. On the other hand, you'd save on electric bills and maybe feel good about reducing your carbon footprint.Family roomPlasma televisions are becoming more popular in American homes.Best Buy sales consultant James Bastien said the plasma screens offer a high-quality picture, especially of moving objects.But when it comes to energy consumption, a plasma TV can be a hog. Never mind its cost, which could be many times more than for a conventional color TV.A good rule of thumb while shopping for high-end electronic appliances is to look for the Energy Star label, which ensures a model is among the lowest energy users in its category.The label began as part of a voluntary program in 1992, when the Environmental Protection Agency introduced it to identify and promote energy-efficient products. Now, the Energy Star label is on major appliances, office equipment, lighting, home electronics and more.KitchenArmanda Wilson, a saleswoman in a Sears store in Denver, recently gave a tour of the store's refrigerator collection. Tall or short, brushed aluminum or colored, the models in neat rows sport yellow tags spelling out their energy consumption."Customers frequently ask about energy use," Wilson said, adding that most buyers check out the yellow tags. Here again, the Energy Star label helps by ensuring that a particular model is among the lowest energy users in its category.OfficeEven the trusty laptop's hard-drive can be green, unless the user values speed over energy efficiency.The green hard drive uses less energy, is quieter and cooler, but has a longer seek time.In other words, it's slower than a conventional hard drive.The seek time is how long it takes between when the CPU, or the processor that executes computer programs, requests a file and when the first byte of the file is sent to the CPU.Laundry roomTake the washer and dryer. A stroll down an appliance aisle at Home Depot, for example, reveals a mind-boggling range of options.Store appliance specialist Grady Kemker offers some wisdom."You don't need to spend a lot of money," he said, "to buy appliances that will save you energy."Energy efficiency really depends on the washer, Kemker said. So if buyers are not particular about matching pairs, they can save a lot of money by pairing a high-end, front-load washer with a vanilla dryer and still enjoy similar energy savings.Front-load washers use less water and energy compared with top-loaders with agitators (the spinning rod in the middle of the washing machine).The tumbling of the clothes rinses out water thoroughly, requiring less effort from the dryer.Other energy saversEven older plasma or LCD TVs, with adjusted colors, can reduce energy consumption. Best Buy offers a video calibration service for $150 that adjusts colors -- say, lowering the blue tone, to suit your room. Decreasing the color intensity improves the life span of a TV by 30 percent and cuts its energy use by half, Best Buy's Bastien said."Manufacturers calibrate TVs to look best in the open, bright spaces that may not be right for your living room," Bastien explained.It's probably far easier to cut down on daily energy consumption by changing light bulbs. Many stores sell compact fluorescent bulbs that cost more but save energy and last longer than conventional incandescent bulbs.Unplugging appliances not in use also can reduce energy waste because standby power usually is a drain. Domia, a United Kingdom-based company, has a kit that powers down an appliance via remote controls.Green productsENERGY STAR-LABELED GE SIDE-BY-SIDE REFRIGERATORPrice: $999.99.Green: 611 kilowatt/hrs per year, cost of about $65 per year for electricityHOTPOINT SIDE-BY-SIDE REFRIGERATORPrice: $899Not so green: Doesn't have an Energy Star label and uses 715 kilowatt/hours per year, cost of about $75 per year for electricityWESTERN DIGITAL'S 500 GB GREEN POWER HARD-DRIVEPrice: $129.99Green: Uses less energy but is slower, with an average seek time of 13 millisecondsHITACHI HARD DRIVEPrice: $139.99Not so green: Uses more energy to accommodate speed; average seek time of 8.5 millisecondsMAYTAG FRONT-LOAD WASHERPrice: $799Green: Uses 8-15 gallons of water per wash and 153 kilowatt/hours of energy per year, or about $16 per year for electricityMAYTAG TOP-LOADERPrice: $469Not so green: Uses 40-60 gallons of water per wash and more than double the energy of the front-load washer (419 kilowatts/hour/year, cost of about $44 per year for electricityPANASONIC FLAT-PANEL PLASMA TV, 42-INCH SCREENPrice: $1,599.99Green: The Environmental Protection Agency dubs it efficient, giving it an Energy Star label.INSIGNIA PLASMA TV, 42-INCH SCREENPrice: $899.99Not so green: Doesn't have an Energy Star labelN:VISION 100-WATT COMPACT FLUORESCENT BULBSPrice: $6.97 per bulbGreen: Energy Star-qualified bulbs last up to 10 times longer than standard incandescent bulbs.ORDINARY GE 100-WATT INCANDESCENT BULBPrice: $3.97 for pack for six bulbsNot so green: Uses about 75 percent more energy than Energy Star-qualified bulbs(Contact Gargi Chakrabarty at chakrabartyg(at)RockyMountainNews.com.)
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