Appliances

It's a common green initiative to replace old appliances with new ones that use less energy.

But in what cases is this actually beneficial to the environment - and in what cases is it worse?

We have to compare the environmental footprint of making a new appliance vs the energy saved.

Reasons we shouldn't assume (by default) that replacement is the better choice:

Globally, manufacturing uses far more energy than household electricity does.
Appliance replacement programs are often heavily subsidized. If they don't pay for themselves money-wise, do they pay for themselves energy-wise?
If appliances are manufactured in other countries, the environmental impact may be overlooked. (...)( Because data may be harder to find, or harder to mix with local datasets. Also because some organizations' goals are defined too locally such as "get our country to net zero". )
In some cases, household electricity is from a more renewable source than what factories use.

Research needed

Things to consider

Energy to manufacture a new appliance
- And all the materials that go into it
Energy to dispose of the old one
- Or maybe that's less of an issue, since the old one will have to be disposed of eventually anyway
  - In that case, consider the energy to eventually dispose of the new appliance
Lifespan of the new appliance
Remaining lifespan of the old appliance
Energy consumed by the new appliance vs the old one (calculate the difference)

What about when the old appliance is almost at its end of life anyway?

To get the ball rolling on this page, leave a comment below.

Loading comments...