The Unlikely Monster

The temperature here in North Carolina has been topping the hundreds for four days in a row. Today we're getting a break. We're only going to be in the nineties. lol!

The thing with heat waves is, everyone starts cranking up their air conditioning and before you know it, power usage spikes and the grid becomes strained and power outages are not uncommon. Everyone has been talking about how to serve more energy and those who are buying new air conditioning units or any appliances for that matter, are encouraged to buy energy efficient appliances with the energy star rating. We just bought a freezer, for instance, and we made sure it was the kind that is energy efficient. It's being delivered today.

What most people don't realize is that the smaller appliances like toasters, vacuum cleaners and hair driers usually pull more energy in the short time they are in use than the larger appliances in the same amount of time. So during peak times, when everyone has their air conditioning on and drawing tons of energy, it is recommended that you also cut down on using these smaller, energy monsters.

One brand that has tried to make their appliances less like monsters is, believe it or not, Dirt Devil (hehe! can you see the irony?). Seriously though, most of their appliances are star energy rated meaning they use less energy than their counterparts and are optimized for this purpose. So if you just really have to crank up something during peak hours, at least find one that is energy efficient.