Blog
Longer-form writing built on the same data as the rest of the site — buying guides, efficiency deep-dives, and notes on what changes in the datasets.
· Sharon Ben-Moshe · Air Conditioners
A portable air conditioner is the least efficient way to buy cooling. If a window unit physically fits the space, its certified running cost is almost always lower for the same size room — and the…
· Sharon Ben-Moshe · Clothes Dryers
Run the median ENERGY STAR certified electric clothes dryer in North Dakota and it costs about $74.96 a year. Run the identical machine in Hawaii and it costs about $282.98 — a 3.8x difference driven…
· Sharon Ben-Moshe · Water Heaters
Every electric water heater that carries ENERGY STAR certification today is a heat pump model — and ENERGY STAR estimates that switching to one from a standard electric resistance tank cuts…
· Sharon Ben-Moshe · Refrigerators
The most efficient ENERGY STAR certified refrigerator on the market uses 42 kWh a year; the least efficient certified model uses 805 kWh — a 19-fold gap between two products that carry the exact same…
· Sharon Ben-Moshe · Energy Basics
An electric water heater costs a median $203.74 a year to run, more than any other major home appliance in WattCost's certified dataset — more than a refrigerator, more than a clothes dryer, more…