Why buy ENERGY STAR for the home?

Buying a new PC and printer for your home? The annual electricity bill for that new equipment may be as high as 350 to 400 kWh/year or as low as 40 kWh/year.

Over an average lifetime of 5-6 years (EU average) and at an electricity rate of € 0.10/kWh, the most efficient ENERGY STAR equipment could save you as much as € 150 - € 200 in energy for a single PC+printer, let alone savings in the printing paper ('paper energy') that you could be making, when you buy smart and 'green'. Buying the most energy efficient equipment in the ENERGY STAR database can do that for you.

Savings can be even more when you think of expanding into a full-blown home office with scanner, fax machine, copier, xDSL modem, etc. that could make the total electricity consumption for home office equipment as high as 600 kWh/year (or as low as 60). Finally, if you think of a home network with new and older PCs, you might be unknowingly adding more than 30% (>1000 kWh/yr) to your annual electricity bill if you don't act smart and 'green'.

Our ENERGY STAR Savings Calculator helps you to do the maths for your specific case. The sections for Selecting PC systems and Imaging Equipment give you hints on purchase strategy, database and power management. Sections on Ecoprofiles and EU statistics on greenhouse gas emissions show that your contribution counts.

Home office equipment is the fastest rising electricity eater in the average EU home and since each of us is a consumer, we all can contribute to use less energy.