Special Series: Appliances: Part Five: Energy-Saving Home Appliances

You can also look for the Energy Star label when purchasing ventilation hoods. McCabe’s favorite options in this category come from Zephyr Corp. and Broan-Nutone LLC’s Best Kitchen Ventilation line. The Zephyr ES1 under-cabinet ventilation hood, for example, meets the Energy Star standards by saving up to Zephyr ventilation hoods are more energy-efficient and quieter than the competition. 65 percent of the energy generally used by vent hoods. These hoods are also quieter than standard models because, in order to meet Energy Star requirements, they must be engineered to operate at low “sone” or sound pressure levels. Air moves at a low cubic-feet-per-minute rate, which results in less noise-making friction and moving parts than you’d find in a traditionally engineered hood. If promoting good health is what propels your green lifestyle, make sure that the hood you choose is large enough to remove all the smoke, fumes and odors from cooking. “When you have a gas range, you want your exhaust hood to be six inches wider than your cooking surface,” McCabe says. “This is going to help preserve your indoor air quality.” A Green Future Green design is one of the factors driving the appliance industry today, says Charles Jones, vice president of global consumer design for Whirlpool Corp. of Benton Harbor, Mich. The future might be seen in concepts such as Whirlpool’s GreenKitchen, a futuristic look at ways to change the way the kitchen is powered. In the GreenKitchen, energy use is reduced by 70 percent through innovations such as an H2O Cooker that uses an insulated bowl, steam and pressure cooker technology to quickly cook vegetables and pasta. Heat produced by the refrigerator compressor is used to warm water used in the dishwasher, and cold air from the fridge is used to create a cellar-like environment in kitchen cabinets that keeps vegetables fresh. “The concept kitchen captures energy, whether it is heat energy from cooking or cool energy from refrigeration,” Jones says. “In some cases, we store it; in some cases, we repurpose it for the entire home. We feel like this is pointing the way for appliances to be much more ecologically friendly.” When it comes to the world of green appliances, stay tuned for the myriad of technology and design-driven changes that undoubtedly lie ahead. Read other Special Series: Appliances articles here.

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