This holiday season is an opportunity to pick out special gifts that your family will appreciate and that have the added bonus of delivering energy savings and a smaller carbon footprint.
When you select appliances, electronics and lighting that carry the ENERGY STAR® label, you can trust that your gift meets strict energy efficiency guidelines set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
For a wide variety of energy-efficient holiday gifts, including special deals and rebates, the Minnesota Commerce Department recommends the ENERGY STAR website.
An ENERGY STAR-certified smart thermostat is one of the many gifts that will keep on giving for years with energy savings. Check out these other gift ideas…
Gifts for tech lovers:
- Televisions: Make the easy gift choice of ENERGY STAR-certified TVs, which offer all the cutting-edge features and are 25 percent more energy efficient than standard models.
- Wireless speakers: ENERGY STAR-certified wireless speakers are the perfect gift for the music lover on the go, since they use 22 percent less energy and still deliver the latest in technology and quality.
- Digital media players: Digital media players with the ENERGY STAR label offer the latest technology and are about 44 percent more efficient than standard models.
Gifts for the home:
- Clothes washers: ENERGY STAR-certified clothes washer do the job using about 25 percent less energy and 45 percent less water than regular washers.
- Clothes dryers: Clothes dryers use the most energy of all household appliances. You can use 20 percent less energy just by picking a dryer with the blue ENERGY STAR label.
- Dishwashers: ENERGY STAR dishwashers are on average about 12 percent more energy efficient and 30 percent more water efficient than standard models.
Gifts for kids:
- Computers: ENERGY STAR-certified computers are engineered with efficient power supplies for those long nights in the library, epic movie marathons and everything in between.
- Tablets: Tablets that are ENERGY STAR certified use 10 times less power to stream than a game console, seven times less power than streaming directly to your television, and six times less than streaming to a desktop computer or monitor.
Last-minute gifts:
Be ready for all of the unexpected gift needs of the holidays with a stack of ENERGY STAR-certified LED bulbs wrapped and ready under the tree. A single ENERGY STAR-certified LED lightbulb lasts at least 12 years with typical use and saves about $55 in electricity costs over its lifetime.
Minnesota Energy Tips is provided twice a month by the Minnesota Department of Commerce, Division of Energy Resources. Contact the Commerce Department’s Energy Information Center at [email protected] or 800-657-3710 with energy questions.
