DUNMORE, Pa. — Our everyday household appliances use water and energy, oftentimes, older traditional ones use a significant amount of it. But newer, eco-friendly appliances like these here at Dunmore Appliance are designed to be exactly that: eco-friendly.
"Refrigerators, they have highly efficient compressors, they don't get as hot. The insulation is better in them," said Jason Golosky, Dunmore Appliance.
While eco-friendly appliances can help reduce our carbon footprint by being more energy-efficient and using less water, how we use them also matters.
"So like in dryers, they have sensors, you put in on an automatic dry, it senses the weight of the clothes by the moisture, how wet they are, so as they get drier, the time goes down faster," Golosky said.
Workers at Dunmore Appliance say using the smart sensing options on your appliances like washers and dryers is a good way to go green, and so is only doing your laundry when it is a full load.
"In the washers, you have a normal eco cycle, same idea as the dryer. Same as the dryer, it weighs the clothes, it puts the suggested amount of water in for the clothes that are in there," said Golosky.
Speaking of water, it is estimated that a modern dishwasher uses about 3 to 4 gallons of water compared to up to 27 gallons when washing the same amount of dishes by hand.
Workers at Dunmore Appliance say washing your dishes off first is just wasting water.
"You're not supposed to rinse the whole dish off in the sink like if there's a lot of gunk on it," said Nicole Gillette, Dunmore Appliance.
Not only is it wasting water and therefore money, but newer dishwashers are designed to sense soil level, so the machine might not work as effectively if it senses your dishes are already clean.
"Put them in with something on it. It doesn't have to be all that gunk and stuff, but something," Gillette explained.
Of course, like laundry, making sure you only run the dishwasher when it's full is a good way to save water. Earth Day is Monday, April 22.
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