Review of book "Eco-Renovations" continued
Typical appliances are: Refrigerators, cookers, washing
machines, dryers, and dishwashers. All use energy and
have ecological impacts with refrigerators being the
most significant.
The factors involved in selecting an appliance were
not organized very well (IMO) so i've summarized
them in the order of most significant to least significant.
1. Is it necessary? How big?
2. Lifecycle costs in both energy and money
(purchase price is often a insignificant factor)
3. Durability and maintenance. (related to
lifecycle costs)
4. Energy required to manufacture, dispose, or
recycle appliance.
5. Will alternative energy be used. (price
of system impacted by appliances)
After appliances have been selected the next step is
to think about how we manage them. Little things like
how a refrigerator is filled and opened can have a
large impact. When we use a dryer and when we hang
the clothes outside is another consideration.
My view of all this is slightly different from the book.
I view an appliance as something that increases comfort
and happiness. To really evaluate we need to ask how
significant is its contribution to our well being and
what the impact of other alternatives would be. If the
appliance saves time then we need to look at what
activities take our time and evaluate them at the
same time.
If it is the consumption of something new and novel
that drives our selection of appliances then we need
to ask if this is the path to happiness?
jeff
