We begin the second part of this series. Let's deviate from buildings and talk about contents for a bit. I've written a dozen or so articles here about appliances and don't think I need to go into too much detail on this one, but I would like to mention it and reiterate its importance.

Appliances are HUGE energy suck holes in your house. It is imperative that you install the most efficient appliances you can. The most efficient are not the most expensive; actually I've found they are very little difference in cost compared to a middle of the road appliance. They aren't hard to find these days; we've purchased all of ours locally for our home.

Here's an interesting tidbit about appliances. Don't be fooled into thinking that Energy Star equals the most efficient, it may or may not. The ratings are not based on appliance type (refrigerator, dishwasher, etc.), but on appliance configuration (i.e., side-by-side fridge, top freezer, etc.). The Energy Star program says that if the appliance exceeds the federal standard by 15 percent or more than it gets the label. What this means is that you can have two different configurations of refrigerators that might differ dramatically in energy consumption (sometimes hundreds of kWh/year) and both will still receive the label.

So what do we do with this? We study the yellow energy tags inside the appliance and look to the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (www.aceee.org) for recommendations. They have a most efficient list they publish each year with the best models regardless of configuration. This is a great starting place.  Lastly on the appliance note is that you should spend your money on the most efficient appliances before you start applying technologies such as solar electric/hot water and wind to your home. Financially you will come our far ahead with this approach. Not as glamorous but really what you should do first.

Use water efficiently. We live in a region where water is becoming more and more scarce. Regardless of your water source (rain, city, or well) efficient use is key. It is really easy in my opinion to find appliances that use very little water. Toilet flushing is an incredible user of drinking water and we should all be using dual flush toilets at a minimum. In Australia, it is a requirement that new homes utilize dual flush technology. The basic gist is that you have two flush levels, one for liquid waste, and the other for solid. Typically the liquid waste flush uses about half of the water of the solid waste flush. Our toilet uses 0.8 gal and 1.6 gallons per flush. More and more manufacturers are coming out with dual flush models. If it was me I would stick with reputable companies (Coroma, Mansfield, and Toto) initially until the technology is figured out by other manufacturers. These companies have been making dual flush toilets for years. It is a terrible thing for a new technology to come out and be given a bad name because of some fly-by-night company trying to get on the bandwagon of energy efficiency without a commitment to it.

Shower heads. Many low flow shower heads feel like pins hitting your skin. Bricor, Danze, and Niagara make shower heads that don't do this. They aren't cheap but deliver a very “normal” feeling shower at flow rates of 0.5 to 1.5 gallons per minute (gpm). Most typical shower heads deliver 2.5 gpm and up. These shower heads can be found locally at the Natural Abode.

The dishwasher. I believe that washing dishes in a water conserving dishwasher uses less water and does a better job of cleaning compared to washing by hand. Our dishwasher (Asko D1550) uses 3.5 gallons per load. We are a family of four and run it every other day. Until recently Asko and Miele were the best in terms of water and energy use but recently Bosch has made changes to their technology and dramatically improved their energy consumption. You can by a great dishwasher locally that uses very little water and energy for around $500. If it was me this is what I'd do now instead of our more expensive Asko.

Two more topics down, six to go. I welcome comments and questions and can be reached at This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it .

Mike is enjoying seeing the garden taking shape this summer.