Monday, January 25, 2010

Water and energy efficient appliances

I decided to create a new sub-section under this blog. Even though this topic is nothing to do with investment but it still falls under the money management section whereby one should strive to save costs.

I am in the midst of doing my research and planning for my upcoming new house. Therefore I intend to post and share any useful information that I got as I embark on my house renovating journey.

In this post, I am sharing some of the most energy efficient appliances in the market. I believe it is worthwhile to pay slightly more to buy new appliances as long as the ongoing costs of running these appliances are cheaper. There is no point in buying cheaper appliances but consume large amount of water and electricity which may cost us more energy bills in the longer run. Furthermore certain appliances like aircon, refrigerator and washing machine are probably once in a decade kind of investments in our lives.

In helping those home seekers or owners in looking for the most energy and water efficient appliances, I have compiled a list of appliances for their reference. Now I just need everyone help to source together for any shops that offer good prices for those products that are in the list. If anyone has any thing to contribute, please do leave me a comment.

List of Energy Efficient - Aircon (Updated 25 Jan 10)
List of Water Efficient - Washing Machine (Updated 25 Jan 10)
List of Water Efficient - Showerhead (Updated 25 Jan 10)
List of Energy Efficient - Refrigerator (Updated 25 Jan 10)

Take note investment is not about making money. In my opinion, it is also about investing in quality and energy efficient machines that cost less to maintain. The cost savings in running these expensive machines may outweigh the benefits from buying cheaper machines in the beginning.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

for electrical appliances, go to either 1) goh ah bee, or 2) everjoint. You can even tell them the model you saw in harvey norman and get the quote on the phone. At least 20% cheaper.

Mike Dirnt said...

Thanks. Get the inputs coming.

I have heard of Paris Silk as well. Their prices are good too.

I hope to hear more comments.

Hoon Thien Rong said...

NEA got a list for aircon, fridges and dryer. Not too sure if your list is the same

http://els.nea.gov.sg/mels/aircon.asp

btw, where did u got the list for showerhead?

Mike Dirnt said...

yes i got those list from NEA actually. basically i just extract and compile them.

i will put the sources links when i have access to my other pc

Mike Dirnt said...

Here is a good website for energy saving tips:
http://www.e2singapore.gov.sg/energy-saving-tips.html

Here is the list of products which meet the Water Efficiency Labelling Scheme (WELS) requirements:
http://www.pub.gov.sg/wels/products/Pages/default.aspx

Here is the database of appliances under the Energy Labelling Scheme:
http://els.nea.gov.sg/mels/aircon.asp

Basically i extracted, compiled and sorted data from the above websites into excel. For the refridgerator list, I added an additional column to show energy consumption per litre.

Thien Rong said...

Nice, I didn't realize PUB have an water efficiency labelling scheme.

Anonymous said...

From Meng Seng.
Just bought a Thomson washing machine ...
Surprisingly, it uses less water than manual washing.
the amount of water saved is S$15 a month ... and the machine cost me $1000.00
so the return of investment for water saving is 67 months or 5 1/2 years. If in terms of saving my time and effot, the ROI will be shorter.

Mike Dirnt said...

Meng Seng I couldnt find a Thomson brand under the water efficient list. My budget for a washing is between $800 to $1000 too.

I intend to get the panasonic NA-14VA1 model which has the lowest water consumption in the market now. Using 6 litres/kg only!

ucypmas said...

Mike, some practical advice.

1. Don't overanalyse these things.

2. Get a big washing machine. You will need the capacity when you have a family. Most branded (Thomson, Electrolux, Brandt etc) front loaders are piddling 5 kg and bigger ones are very expensive. Get a not so branded one (e.g. EF) which offers reasonable cost and large load capacity.

3. If you use aircon everyday you need an inverter. Otherwise don't bother and get a normal set as the extra expense is not worth it.

4. Get an energy efficient fridge. It can cost up to 20-25 per month just to run the fridge so be careful of what you buy

I would plan on my electricals lasting only 5 years max. Anything extra is a bonus. Most of the time they will die after the warranty is up.

Mike Dirnt said...

ucypmas i need an extra basis to do some comparisons among the appliances. apart from the brand and functions wise which i think most appliances have in common, i think looking at their efficiency and cost comparison will give a good indication of which one to buy.

brand wise i wont go Europe/US made appliances because obviously they are more expensive. I dont mind a China or Thailand made appliances.

Anyway i have purchased a Mitsubishi Heavy Industry Inverter System 3 air con.

My choise for washing machine and fridge are Panasonic NA-14VA1 and Hitachi R-Z451EMSX respectively.

Farooq Ahmed said...

Hello
I really appreciate you for all the valuable information that you are providing us through your blog.

Stoic said...

Thanks for your file. about wasking machine, my hubby mentioned that sometimes front loading machine consumes more electricity than top loading ones. I've just reviewed the unit cost of water its about $1.885 per Cu M and the Electricity is at $0.2413 KWH... haven't have time to compute total cost...but can consider adding a consumption Col for energy

Mike Dirnt said...

Magmil,

its not really true that front loading consumes more electricity. read the wiki website.

if electricity is a factor, NEA should include electricity consumption in their energy labelings. but only water is used as a basis. i also still think water is the main energy consumption

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washing_machine