The Big E – ‘E’nergy ‘E’fficient

BY ELAINE LESSIG

In the Lessig household, the past six weeks have been fraught with domestic decisions. With unusual frequency, smaller appliances, larger ones, newer ones, and older ones all broke. The electronic gates at the bottom of the driveway ceased to function when a Fedex delivery truck hit the left one while executing a “K” turn which went awry. The plumbers were here so often they began to behave like members of the family. Not only did they inquire about what was for dinner, but one helpful fellow suggested a better way for me to season my roasted vegetables, just use the spices his Portuguese mother did. He was correct. Those vegetables were delicious! The icing on the cake came when the refrigerator in the dog kitchen, a friend of twenty-plus years, said a fond farewell. It all reminded me of doing laundry. There was always more.

Each issue required some thought about whether to replace, repair, or resolve. Although it has been a time consuming effort to get the driveway gates working again, Fedex’s insurer took responsibility for that problem. Finally, it got resolved. The appliances and plumbing choices were ours to determine. Do we replace the motor in a twenty-plus-year-old refrigerator or buy a new one? Should we put in a new faucet in a guest bathroom or simply address the leak? Why is the instant hot 190 degree water tank in the kitchen in need of replacement just a year after installation?

All these decisions came with several options and lots of information before they could be made. Two words kept popping-up both in conversations and the written materials: energy efficient. It seemed that these buzz words held the “power” to influence our ultimate choices. Not surprisingly, they did. Our old friend, the dog refrigerator, needed to be placed into a state subsidized recycling program which provided a credit toward a new one. A new refrigerator promised to be seventy percent more “energy efficient”, eventually saving us money and being better for the environment. Although the instant hot water tank was barely a year old, the new tanks had improved “energy efficiency” and would be quieter and use less electricity. Just how much a difference we would see seemed negligible. The company decided, in good faith, since the tank was just beyond the warranty period they would put in the new one at no additional cost.

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Posted by Alex on Jun 19 2019. Filed under Current Articles, Featured. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.