An overwhelming majority of consumers – 92 percent – agree that business, government, and consumers have an equal responsibility to reduce energy use – Alliance to Save Energy, 2003 Consumer Market Research.
Consumers garner information on saving energy and reducing energy bills from a variety of sources – 45 percent review brochures or utility company information, 40 percent by word-of-mouth, and 39 percent look for the Energy Star label on new products – Alliance to Save Energy, 2003 Consumer Market Research.
Eighty percent of American consumers agree that America needs to reduce oil imports
– Alliance to Save Energy, 2003 Consumer Market Research.
According to estimates from the Energy Information Administration, in just two decades U.S. energy consumption will increase by almost 40 percent – an amount equivalent to the energy used today in California, Texas, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Illinois
–Alliance to Save Energy.
Many idle electronics – TVs, VCRs, DVD and CD players, cordless phones, microwaves – use energy even when switched off to keep display clocks lit and memory chips and remote controls working. Nationally, these energy “vampires” use 5 percent of our domestic energy and cost consumers more than $3 billion annually
–Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and quoted in Alliance’s Power$mart booklet.
American households typically spend more than $200 annually on air conditioning. Households in some regions of the South can easily spend twice that much
— Alliance to Save Energy.
Over an air conditioner’s lifetime, only one-fourth of the total cost is for the purchase of the air conditioning unit. The greater cost – three-fourths – is for the energy to run the air conditioner
— Alliance to Save Energy.
Replacing old model air conditioners with Energy Star units can cut cooling bills by 20 percent or more
–ENERGY STAR®.
“Sleep” features that power down home office equipment and other electronic devices that are turned on but not in use can save households up to $70 annually
–Alliance to Save Energy Power$mart Booklet.
Between 80 and 85 percent of the energy used to wash clothes comes from heating the water. Using warm or cool water instead of hot will save money and energy and get clothes just as clean
–U.S. Department of Energy.