Five ways to save money and get a fresh new look.
If your kitchen looks as if it could use a face-lift, keep in mind that you can get more bang for your fix-up buck by choosing eco-smart products. Some of them not only look cool but can also trim your water and energy bills.
Photo by moriza
You don’t have to spend a lot to go green . It can be as easy as screwing a $3 gizmo onto your faucet. But there are no federal regulations for all the stuff out there marketed as eco-friendly. Therefore, some green products might not be as green as you think. So it’s easy to make costly mistakes if you don’t do your homework.
Get a water-saver faucet
WHY A gleaming new faucet is an easy upgrade, but kitchen models can be water wasters compared with some bathroom faucets. Low-flow bathroom faucets wiht the Environmental Protection Agency’s new water sense label are about 30% more efficient.
EASY GREEN FIX Until the EPA comes up with criteria for low-flow kitchen faucets, for $3 to $11 you can make most new or existing taps more efficient simply by attaching an aerator. This small cylinder-like add-on is sold at hardware stores and home centers. It works by mixing air with water to cut the flow, which can help save both water and the energy required to heat it.
ONE POSSIBLE DRAWBACK With lower flow, it might take a bit longer to fill that pasta pot.
TIP: When you find a faucet style you like, make sure it has a lifetime warranty that covers stains and water-wasting leaks.
Switch to watt-stingy lighting
WHY Modern kitchens can use up to 2,000 watts for lighting because standard incandescent, halogen, and xenon lights are energy hogs. All that excess heat from lights might prod you to turn down the A/C to cool things off.
EASY GREEN FIX Switch to cool-burning compact fluorescent lights (CFLs) in overhead fixtures. Also consider adding some LED or fluorescent undercabinet task lighting, so you don’t have to rely as much on overhead lights. This easy fix, which costs about $200 for five fluorescent fixtures, can also make your kitchen more cook-friendly by focusing light on prep areas, where you need it most.
ONE POSSIBLE DRAWBACK Some, but not all, CFLs and LEDs cast a blusih or other funky-color light. Before you buy, ask if you can return the fixture if you don’t like the way the light looks with your decor.
TIP: If your cabinets don’t have a built-in valence to hide task lighting, either add one or choose a fixture with a sleek housing that’s not as noticeable.
Put in a ceiling fan
WHY Kitchens get hot and if you use an air conditioner to cool things off, it will gobble up a lot of energy and money.
EASY GREEN FIX A ceiling fan in the kitchen will use only a fraction of the electricity that an A/C would, so you can run one for pennies a day, especially if you don’t flick on the built-in lights. Also, make sure to turn off the fan when you leave the room. Otherwise you’re wasting energy because fans cool people, not rooms.
TIP: You might be able to find CFLs designed for ceiling fans that can replace the original bulbs and save energy.
Renovate with recycled stuff
WHY A new countertop or cabinet style can change the whole look of your kitchen, but manufacturing them keeps power plants polluting the air.
EASY GREEN FIX Before you buy new, see if you can find secondhand products.
TIP: If you must have new, look for greener cabinets and other products made from sustainable lumber and materials. The nonprofit Forest Stewardship Council label is the leading certification for green furniture, although the group issues it is backed in part by the industry.
Trade in the biggest energy hogs
WHY The appliances in your kitchen that take the most energy to operate are refrigerators and dishwashers. The older these appliances are, the less energy efficient they are and the more costly they are to run.
EASY GREEN FIX It usually doesn’t pay to replace working appliances with new ones. But when you do update, look for models that use less energy and are quieter. Though energy-efficient models can cost more, you’ll recoup the money as your utility bills shrink. To find energy-efficient models, look for the Energy Star sticker, or subscribe to ConsumerReports.org.
TIP: You don’t have to ditch the clunkers all at once. Start with the least efficient ones, like that 15-year-old refrigerator (annual operating cost $126) or the 7-year-old dishwasher (annual operating cost $118). It pays to replace them when repairs would cost more than half the price of a new appliance.
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Greg
10.22.08 at 10:45 am
With regards to aerators just like there are various levels of water saving aerators for the bathroom faucet as low as .5 gallons per minute there are also various levels for the kitchen. I recommend a 2.2 gallon per minute aerator as it restricts water but not to the point where you are noticing the water to be too restricted. There are also swivel spray aerators that are really nice for the kitchen faucet, here are a few examples http://www.faucetaerators.com/swivel-head-faucet-aerators-c-25.html you can’t buy them here but will give you an idea of what to look for at the hardware store.
Chavy Goh
10.22.08 at 10:56 pm
Thanks for the great tips!
There are many useful tips of green kitchen at http://www.waystosaveenergy.net/Home/appliances.html
do drop by and tell me what you think.
cheers,
chavy
waystosaveenergy.net
Anna
10.23.08 at 10:14 am
Greg~Thanks for the information!
Chavy~I’ll definitely have to check out those tips, thanks for the link.
cheap kitchen cabinets alabama
05.27.09 at 2:13 pm
I wondered if there was any more information available on this? We also deal with these or similar kitchen cabinets. Just wanted to see if maybe there was another option for us cab-net.com is where we are