Energy Efficient—and Affordable—Appliances

We needed to get all of our appliance specs into Presby this past week so they could plan/build accordingly. Sure, this task seems pretty undemanding at face value. But in reality, we spent weeks contemplating cook tops and dwelling on dryers. And at times the process wasn’t fun—like when we (well, not me) stood in line on Black Friday at 4:00 a.m. for a washer/dryer…

Yep, choosing appliances took weeks of researching the most efficient models, head scratching over where certain appliances would fit and unearthing the best deals to make sure we stayed within our budget.

One common theme you will notice is that all our appliances are electric. We hope to offset a majority, if not all, of our electric use from our own sustainable energy sources (currently solar & hopefully wind in the future).

Without further ado, here is what we purchased:

Cook Top & Wall Oven- Remember the drama that ensued when we realized we’d need a fan to vent our stove? Because we didn’t want to obstruct the view, and due to the lack of downdraft options in slide in ranges, we opted for a separate cook top and wall oven. Our research revealed that convection ovens are more energy efficient than conventional ovens because they house a fan that blows air around inside the unit—meaning shorter cooking times at lower temperatures. We chose a Kenmore Elite 30 in. Convection Wall Oven and GE Profile 30" Downdraft Electric Cooktop. Both were purchased from the Sears outlet. (Photos courtesy Sears & GE)





Washer/Dryer- Because our laundry room is also serving as our pantry, we need as much space as possible to function in the small space. So, we opted for a stackable washer and dryer. My other half stood in line at an insane hour of the morning on Black Friday to buy this washer/dryer combo for MUCH less than it’s worth. (Thank you!) The washer is Energy Star-compliant; however, dryers are not rated under the Energy Star program. The dryer will only see action in the colder months anyway :) (Photos courtesy Sears)




Refrigerator- Because refrigerators are charged with being the biggest energy consumers, we spent a lot of time researching this appliance, and chose the Frigidaire 18.2 Cu. Ft. Top Mount Refrigerator for various reasons:

• It uses 34% LESS energy than what is needed to meet the minimum federal government standard (NAECA);


• It’s estimated yearly operating cost is just $41;


• It has a top-mounted freezer, which uses 10–25% less energy than bottom-mount or side-by-side models;


• It lacks an icemaker and water dispenser on purpose. According to the Department of Energy, while these features are convenient, they will increase energy use;


• It comes in around $500-600. (Photo courtesy Lowes)

Dishwasher- We chose the Frigidaire Gallery Stainless Steel 24 in. Built-In Dishwasher because it was Energy Star compliant, good looking and on sale! (Photo courtesy Sears)

In every appliance we researched and purchased energy consumption was our primary concern. The less kWh we have to use the easier it will be to make our home a zero energy home!

Change is Good

At least that’s what I keep telling myself…because the past couple weeks have brought plenty of changes. There have been changes to our wood stove venting, and therefore our solar panel layout; our kitchen appliances; our first floor bathroom; our flooring; and our well allowance.

Wood stove venting- By order of the fire marshal, our interior wood stove vent cannot bend twice at 45 degree angles before exiting the home. It’s too hard to clean and you can’t have more than 15 degree angles inside the home. Venting needs to run straight up and out. This modified design also throws a wrench into our solar panel layout.

Solar panel layout- Solar Wind Electric had sent us a clean-looking solar design that accommodated all 12 panels and positioned them in a way that made brushing off snow a bit easier. Because our wood stove vent will now run straight up the south wall and exit the roof lower than we planned, our panels will have to be reconfigured away from the heat source.

Kitchen appliances- Originally, our U-shaped kitchen layout called for an electric slide-in range facing south. I fell in love with the idea of cooking meals while admiring the mountains. Really, just being able to glance at the view from anywhere in the kitchen! Alas, our home is so air tight, it’s highly recommended we vent our stove. I hate the idea of a huge hunk of metal obstructing our view. Instead, we’re opting for a stove that has a built-in downdraft. Unfortunately, we found no induction stoves with this option (which crushed my soon-to-be husband’s dream of being the coolest kids around). In fact, there’s essentially only one kind of slide in range with a downdraft: Jenn Air. And from what we’ve seen, they’re never on sale. Our only option at this point is to buy a cook top and wall oven as two separate appliances. The cook top will remain at the south end of the kitchen, but because of the downdraft venting, the wall oven won’t fit underneath. After much arranging and rearranging our kitchen plan, we came to the conclusion that the north wall is the best (really, only) spot for it.

First floor bathroom- When we designed our home, we thought it would be practical to have two full bathrooms—one shower upstairs next to the master bedroom, one shower downstairs next to the guest bedroom. What we didn’t think of at the time was accommodating children. And children take baths, not showers. Our first floor bathroom is now a standard tub shower.

Flooring- We got the quote back for our flooring options, and it’s over budget…by a fair amount. Our first floor has a pretty big area that will be slate, which is driving our price up quite a bit. But because it will work so well with our passive solar design (not to mention look nice!), we’d like to keep it in the plans and compromise somewhere else. Perhaps we’ll forgo the bamboo flooring on the second floor in favor of cork.

Well allowance- The original quote for our home included a $7,000 allowance for digging a well. Nobody realized we’d need to dig to China to strike water. Really, our well is 600-feet deep! And $4,000 over budget.

Fortunately, we saved $4,000 by switching from Marvin to Pella brand on certain windows. (Windows that didn’t compare spec by spec were not changed.) We also saved $500 by switching the first floor bathroom to a tub instead of shower. We’re crossing our fingers that the hearth quote comes in low, so we can save money there as well.

It comforts me to think that all home builders likely go through this same process and share our stress. I don’t want to sound callous. I just want to know that we’re not the only ones juggling money and making compromises!