Retail Observer

RETAILOBSERVER.COM MAY 2023 50 Y ou may have seen the media reports that Nationwide Marketing Group was recently honored as an ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year – Sustained Excellence. This was actually the ninth consecutive year that Nationwide received this highly prestigious award. The ENERGY STAR Partner award doesn't come with prizes or free media exposure – so why does Nationwide welcome the award application process every year, even though it takes many hours of hard work? Nationwide is involved in various ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) activities, and ENERGY STAR is at the center. That's because our members sell products that consume energy – home appliances and consumer electronics. Creating all of that energy, whether gas or electric, results in carbon emissions, greenhouse gasses (GHG), and air pollution. Nationwide has made it a goal and responsibility to facilitate energy savings in numerous ways. These include the retailer's purchase of the most energy-efficient, ENERGY STAR certified appliances. It also includes facilitating product training on optimal appliance performance through regular cleaning and maintenance. Finally, there is efficient consumer use of products like refrigerators, dishwashers, and washing machines. Each one of us has an energy-efficiency journey. For some, it's a dollar-saving journey that happens to involve energy. In purchasing a vehicle, fuel efficiency is front and center, so it's typically a factor in the purchase decision. When purchasing an appliance, there's an energy consumption label. But when you get your gas or electric bill, do you really know how much of the bill is from the use of a single appliance? Not really. I live in an all-electric home that makes the exercise simpler. The electricity I use is from lots of items inside and outside of the home. There are kitchen appliances, laundry appliances, HVAC, outdoor lighting, indoor lighting, televisions, water heating, fans, small appliances, and more. I've never tried to analyze the power consumed in a single billing period by the many electric items we use. Most people aren't aware of the biggest drivers of their electric bill, nor are they aware of the biggest opportunities to save electricity and reduce carbon emissions. Let's start with the biggest drivers of your electric/gas bill. As you can imagine, it depends upon your living situation. The cost of heating and cooling is higher in areas where there are extreme outside temperatures that need to be cooled and heated. There are many people who live without air conditioning and some with no heat. Notwithstanding the exceptions, here's a breakdown of where energy is typically consumed: Heating ..............................................................45% Water heating ....................................................18% Lighting and electronics ................................... 17% Refrigeration, cooking and laundry .................. 11% Cooling ................................................................9% Total .................................................................100% It's interesting to note that, on average, all of the lighting and televisions operating in the home consume less energy than a water heater. Also, when you combine heating and cooling, it amounts to more than half of the energy consumed by most homes. Whereas this information is insightful, it's important note that this is for the average American home. Yours might not be average. Now that you know the drivers of energy usage, your next question should be where you can save the most across the categories above – and it isn't as obvious or easy to discover. Over the years, all products that consume electricity have become more efficient, but the amount of possible savings differs across the products. A new area that is providing the next wave of energy savings is heat pump technology. Heat pumps have been around for years, but they've improved in performance and they've entered new product categories. Heat pumps have expanded from being part of HVAC systems to be included in clothes dryers and water heaters. The energy savings from switching to an electric heat pump water heater from a regular electric water heater are very significant. At average U.S. electric rates, a 50-gallon tank will consume about $550 in electricity per year. With a heat pump, that figure drops to about $150 per year. This is why the Inflation Reduction Act incentives are skewed toward heat pumps. Nationwide is working to make energy savings easier for our members and their customers, through education, merchandising programs, and marketing assets. We plan to continue down this path, and the ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year awards will likely continue, reaffirming that our efforts are accomplishing the right results for the environment and our future. Frank Sandtner, Senior Director of Business & Financial Services, Nationwide Marketing Group RO A LOOK AT THE ENERGY EFFICIENCY JOURNEY WE'RE ALL ON Frank Sandtner Appliance Trends

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