Consumer Guide to Home Energy Savings [Paperback]

Alex Wilson (Author)

Book Description

Series: Consumer Guide to Home Energy Savings | Publication Date: February 1998

From light bulbs to furnaces, air conditioners to washing machines, the 6th edition of the Consumer Guide identifies the most energy-efficient major home appliances by brand name and model number in reader-friendly text and illustrations. The Guide helps consumers make their homes more energy efficient while saving energy and money.

New in this edition: introduction of the Energy Star label, a voluntary program of the U.S. EPA and the U.S. Department of Energy, in cooperation with equipment manufacturers, to identify the most efficient appliances on the market. Among the residential products eligible for Energy Star distinction: refrigerators, furnaces, boilers, air conditioners, dishwashers, clothes washers, color TVs and VCRs.

Listings of energy-and water-saving horizontal-axis clothes washers that provide superior cleaning yet cut laundry energy use.

Descriptions of energy-efficient alternatives to hazardous and energy-wasting halogen torchiere floor lamps.

Tips to help consumers select high-quality contractors for heating and air conditioning work and an introduction to home performance contractors who treat problems with home comfort, safety, and high energy bills.

Listings of electricity use by efficient furnaces, in addition to their fuel efficiency and heating capacity ratings.

Individual chapters cover: energy use and the environment; insulating and sealing air leaks; new windows; space heating; cooling and air conditioning; water heating; refrigerators and freezers; dishwashing; laundry; lighting; and much more.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Alex Wilson and John Morrill have assembled a comprehensive guide to energy-saving techniques and devices with two goals in mind: save consumers money and save Earth in the process. Wilson and Morrill offer consumers the latest techniques for making their homes more efficient, comfortable, and cheaper to live in, and they supply energy ratings for appliances, light bulbs, water heaters, windows, heating systems, and more. The language is clear and entertaining; you needn't to be a technician or an engineer to understand the suggestions and analyses. Consumer Guide to Home Energy Savings will prove incredibly useful for people who are about to build a home or remodel, or who simply want to get the most bang for their buck and not waste energy or foul the environment. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

Few books offer the potential to pay for themselves the way this one does. -- Popular Mechanics

The Consumer Guide to Home Energy Savings suffers from a modest title. The Guide reveals how to buy and operate just about everything in your house that's connected to an electric or gas meter. It also names names: it lists the brands and model names of the most efficient appliances currently available. What's more, the authors decipher the yellow "Energy Guide" label, tell how to quickly size up energy- efficiency claims and explain how homeowners can boost the energy efficiency of their home. -- Today's Homeowner, March 1997

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 274 pages
• Publisher: Amer Council for An Energy; 6th edition (February 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0918249317
• ISBN-13: 978-0918249319
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,653,368 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #97 in Books > Crafts, Hobbies & Home > How-to & Home Improvements > Remodeling & Renovation > Energy Efficiency

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Practical energy savings information, June 19, 2001

By 

Daniel J Dravis (Eau Claire, WI United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Consumer Guide to Home Energy Savings (Paperback)

This book covers both the house itself (insulation, windows, etc.) as well as appliances, furnaces, and lightbulbs. Written in 1999, it lists major appliances, windows, furnaces, boilers, and air conditioners by brand name and model number in table format showing the energy ratings of each one. This saves you the time of running around town or making dozens of phone calls to collect this info.

It also explains all the information contained on energy labels when you go shopping. In particular, I found the section on windows most beneficial. It details what tests are done to obtain the ratings, which tests are most relevant and which ratings you should pay particular attention to, as there are several ratings on each window.

It also was bold enough to say which things you should be spending your money on and which things are nice to have but not absolutely necessary.

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Consumer Guide to Home Energy Savings, March 11, 2006

By 

T. Bonnell "solargirl" (Spanaway, Washington United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Consumer Guide to Home Energy Savings: All New Listings of the Most Efficient Products You Can Buy (Paperback)

If you want to replace your appliances in your home this is your book to find the most energy efficient products on the market. It rates the products as well as explaining how they work. Tons of information for the everyday consumer. We have used it to help us decide upon which kind of washer & dryer to buy as well as the installation of a heat pump, which replaced the 30 year old forced air furnace. It covers all the types of heating systems as well as cooling systems.
For the washer it compares vertical axis with horizonal axis right down to cost per load, electric and gas, wash and rinse cycle options and even laundry tips.
There is a whole chapter on lighting, both incandescent and compact florescent bulbs.
Hot water heaters are covered: gas or electric, storage types, demand, water pump, tankless, indirect and even solar. It discusses replacing & sizing water heaters for your home and how you use hot water, insulation and how to lower the water temperture. We went as far as to put a timer on our hot water heater so that it only heats water when we need it most, early morning for showers and evening for cooking and dishes.
It even covers windows, home insulation, energy audits and how to read the Energy Guide labels on all products.
We have found this book both informative and a keeper. We have had friends borrow it and some have even gone and purchased their own. This is our 2nd one, we almost wore out the first one which was the 7th edition. The new 8th edition brings us up to date. We gave the old one to friends who were happy to have it.

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Save money on energy bills with this big little book, December 14, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Consumer Guide to Home Energy Savings (Paperback)

I bought this book from amazon for research into healthy houses and I skimmed it for my deadline. I'm reading it closely now. Well written, easy to read, detailed, comprehensive. Even if you haven't a speck of money for new appliances, much less a new heating system, you can save money on energy. It's small--you can fit in your bag to take to the appliance store, but it's packed with stuff. Well worth the price.