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hen it comes to electricity consumption, the kitchen is the hungriest room in the house. Kitchen appliances— including refrigerators, freezers, ranges, and dishwashers—account for nearly 27% of household electricity use. Collectively, that’s more than 300 billion kilowatt hours (kwh) per year in the United States, or roughly the electricity output of 90 average-size coal — fired power plants.
Not all appliances are equally voracious, however. Refrigerators and freezers account
for nearly two-thirds of kitchen energy use, with ranges, ovens, and cooktops accounting for a little over one-quarter, and dishwashers the rest. Add in the heating, air-conditioning, hot water, and lighting used in a kitchen, and this room is clearly the energy hog of most houses. Putting your kitchen on an energy diet might be one of the best things you can do to save money and resources. Like most diets, it all comes down to making informed choices.
ENERGY STAR
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Refrigerators Are the Top Energy Guzzlers
In a typical American home, the refrigerator accounts for about 15% of total electricity use. Assuming heat and hot water are not electric, that makes the refrigerator a home’s single largest electricity consumer. This is the case even though refrigerators have improved dramatically since the mid-1970s; today’s models use about a third as much power as those from 30 years ago.
