What home appliance produces the most greenhouse gas?

Answer 1

A good rule of thumb is that household appliances consume electricity and therefore contribute to global warming in proportion to the amount of heat they produce, because the production of heat is what usually requires the most energy. If you put your hand over the back of a television set, you will feel the heat rising from it as a byproduct of what the appliance does.

So, electric heaters and oil or gas heaters contribute most considerably to global warming, as do hot water systems. Air conditioners are also culprits, but surprisingly reverse cycle air conditioning is somewhat better than electric heaters because it uses the heat pump effect, rather than simply generating heat. So, minimise your use of heaters and wear a jumper with the heater at a low setting. Better still, use a reverse cycle air conditioner if you have one. Close internal doors so that you do not have to heat or cool unoccupied rooms. Consider installing a roof-top solar hot water system.

Refrigerators are another culprit because they operate twenty four hours a day. When buying a new refrigerator, look for its energy rating and try to choose a refrigerator with a higher efficiency rating. Turn second refrigerators off when they are not really needed.

Use cold water in washing machines and try to wash clothes only when you have a full load. Dish washers are a wonderful convenience, but they use a lot of electricity, and they use the same amount of electricity every time you use them, whether full or not. So, try to use them only once a day.

A hidden source of electricity wastage is in appliances left in standby mode. I would not turn my microwave oven off at the wall when not in use, partly because I rely on the clock and partly because much of the convenience would be lost, but consider turning other appliances off at the wall.

Incandescent light globes work by heating a wire filament until it glows white hot, so they are obviously very heavy users of electricity. These should be replaced by modern high-efficiency lights that use a fraction of the electricity and therefore contribute only a fraction of the carbon emissions that lead to global warming.

Answer 2

It depends on the power of the appliance and how often it is used.

A single 100 watt old style light bulb, on for 4 hours a day, produces 63 kilograms of carbon dioxide a year.

A single 18 watt low-energy light bulb, giving the same amount of light, 4 hours a day, produces 11 kg of CO2 a year.

An electric kettle boiling 1 liter of water 5 times a day produces 73 kilos of CO2 per year.

A fridge/freezer, running 24 hours a day, produces between 89 and 116 kg of CO2 a year.

An electric tumble dryer, or an electric fan heater, probably produces the most. The dryer, used 3 times a week, produces 159 kg of carbon dioxide.

Carbonfootprint.com (linked below) has a useful table, including different kinds of TVs.

Answer 3

The one that uses the most fuel. If you have an oil furnace for heating, then it might be that. Or if you have powerful air conditioning that you run all the time, then it might be that. Fan heaters use a lot of power. Clothes dryers use more.

You can buy a little energy meter that you can plug your appliances into to see how much electrical current they draw.