If you can't conserve energy, stay out of the kitchen

A new high-tech refrigerator from Electrolux comes with a computer and 15-in. touchscreen for surfing the Internet, sending e-mail, and shopping for groceries without leaving the kitchen. The refrigerator is connected to broadband and TV via wireless connection. And if Internet, e-mail, phone, radio, and MP3 player are not enough, there's a calendar and videomessaging system. Before you leave for work, you can check the weather and traffic, check appointments with a personal organizer, and print an electronic shopping list (printer not included). The refrigerator is accessible via a remote-access feature. Oh yeah, it keeps things cold, too.

Nobody wants to throw out — or better still, recycle — what seems like a perfectly good appliance. But if your major appliances are more than 10 years old, you could be ahead of the game by doing just that. Major strides in energy and water-use efficiency could mean it's time to haul that reliable refrigerator, dependable dishwasher, or dutiful dryer to the curb.

REFRIGERATORS
Refrigerator efficiency depends on features such as defrost type (manual, partial automatic, automatic), door style, and size. Topfreezer models outperform side-byside models and partial-automatic or manual-defrost models are more efficient than those with automatic defrost. Manual-defrost models use half the energy of automatic-defrost models, but they must be defrosted periodically to remain efficient. Automatic icemakers and through-the-door dispensers boost energy use somewhat. Refrigerators are becoming incrementally more efficient thanks to improved insulation and other design efficiencies. The most energy-efficient refrigerators are relatively small with manual or partial-automatic defrost. Because their initial cost is high, acceptance is largely limited to the environmentally conscious consumer.

Energy-efficient washers increasingly are adopting a front-loading format where the drum is driven directly by a specially built permanent-magnet synchronous motor with no intervening gearbox or belt drive. Wash dynamics in these new machines are such that clothes emerge clean after a wash and rinse with water levels that may not even cover the clothes. There are tough torque and speed requirements levied on the PM synchronous motors in such systems as becomes evident in a typical torque/speed graph as depicted by International Rectifier. New integrated circuits designed especially to drive PM washer motors can now synthesize such performance.

The typical new refrigerator with automatic defrost and topmounted freezer uses less than 500 kWh/yr compared to 1,800 in 1973. According to Sr. Product Manager Greg Garavalia with Whirlpool Food Preservation, traditional defrost systems work on a timer mechanism. The timer turns the defrost heaters on approximately every 12 hr, regardless of use. New models adjust the defrost cycle depending on use. The fewer times the door opens, the less the compressor will run; the less the compressor runs, the less need for defrosting.