Sydney Henderson - AHAM Consumer Blog

AHAM Marks Fire Prevention Week by Distributing 250,000 Safety Brochures

National Fire Prevention Week is October 7-12, 2011 and AHAM is again supporting this Week by providing several safety brochures (just pay shipping). Last year, AHAM distributed over 250,000 brochures to local fire departments, schools and non-profit agencies.

The following brochures are available:

“Protect Against Range Tipping??
“Recipe for Safer Cooking Procedures??
“Clothes Dryer Safety??
“Portable Heater Safety Brochure?? (English)
“Portable Heater Safety Brochure?? (Spanish)

There is no shipping charge if your total order is less than 250 brochures. However, there will be a nominal shipping charge for larger orders. You may order brochures online or click here for an order form. Email AHAM if you have any questions.

Search and Compare Appliance Ratings with AHAM

Visit AHAM’s new searchable directories of verified products to find the refrigerator, dehumidifier, room air conditioner and room air cleaner that meets your needs. Search and compare appliances that are listed in AHAM’s Verification Programs to find models that have undergone performance and energy testing. AHAM’s Verification Programs validate the energy ratings made by manufacturers through random testing conducted by an independent laboratory. Product directories for clothes washers and dishwashers will be available soon.

AHAM President Elected to Chair-Elect of ASAE Board

Congratulations to AHAM president Joe McGuire who was elected Chairman-Elect of ASAE– the Center for Association Leadership and Chairman of the ASAE Foundation for 2011-2012. Joe moves from Board Treasurer into this new Board role upon the conclusion of the ASAE annal meeting on Auguat 9, 2011. ASAE is a membership organization of more than 22,000 association executives and industry partners representing more than 11,000 organizations. Anyone who works for an Association, or in Washington, DC, knows that ASAE is the premier organization for expertise and training for association professionals. All senior AHAM staff members are members of ASAE, and benefit from the training and networking opportunities. Joe is a great strategic leader for AHAM, and we know that ASAE will benefit from his leadership while working to accomplish its goals for the next year.

AHAM takes on EPR at state conferences

AHAM is attending the 38^th summer legislative meeting for the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), one of the three larger organizations representing state legislators around the country. The meeting in New Orleans this year is the largest ALEC conference by attendance in its 38 year history; I would eyeball somewhere around 1000 legislators, staff, and industry representatives like AHAM. The forum is proving to be an important chance for AHAM to educate and gain early support of policymakers who will be writing and voting on bills on topics affecting home appliance products this year and in 2012.

Among the main reasons we’re here is to discuss and educate lawmakers on Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR). Many states have toyed with the idea of creating product take-back programs at the end of a product’s lifecycle. While this may seem like a great idea, it is important for legislators to know that major appliances have a 90% recycling rate. We blogged about this achievement a couple months ago. The creation of additional state EPR programs may be a waste of state budgets dollars and a threat to state job markets in some cases – two issues that are definitely not lost on this assembly. But, in all cases, these decisions need to be made with a strong base of knowledge and
understanding of how some localities are handling waste.

I will report back from San Antonio next week, where I will be attending the NCSL – the National Conference of State Legislators.

Stakes Raised in Debt Ceiling Debate

While no headway has been made on a debt ceiling extension, congressional leaders are meeting at the White House daily to attempt to resolve differences on a long term deal with the sticking points remaining to be taxes and entitlement spending. But, it appears both branches of government and both political parties are getting the message on the importance to the country and economy on increasing the debt limit. It is also clear that an agreement can only be enacted with support from both political parties. AHAM joined with several other manufacturing associations including the National Association of Manufacturers in writing a letter to all members of congress and the president to urge them to reach an agreement on the debt ceiling before the August 2 deadline. We stressed that increased borrowing costs for the federal government influence the cost of manufacturing and home ownership. Importantly, we also urged our political leaders to agree to a plan to substantially reduce the country’s long-term budget deficits with a goal of at least stabilizing our nation’s debt as a percentage of GDP.

AHAM and Efficiency Organizations Call on EPA and DOE to Recognize Smart Appliances

Following Wednesday’s release of a joint DOE/FERC National Action Plan calling for a national forum to jump start the development of demand-response programs that could significantly reduce electricity usage during periods of high demand, AHAM is urging DOE and the EPA to adopt a petition submitted to the ENERGY STAR program in December 2010 by AHAM, NRDC, and several efficiency and consumer organizations, coordinated by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE), to recognize the benefits of smart appliances and hasten development of the smart grid.

The AHAM petition supports the Administration’s smart grid goals, is widely supported, and is a no-cost measure that DOE and EPA can take on a national scale to recognize the benefits of demand response capable and smart home appliances.

The petition urges the ENERGY STAR program to incorporate a five percent allowance to the energy performance level required to meet ENERGY STAR eligibility criteria for smart-grid enabled appliances as soon as possible. The incorporation of this incentive for smart grid enabled appliances will increase the deployment of these energy saving products across the country.

“This petition recognizes the opportunity for smart appliances to contribute to energy efficiency and the smart grid. An allowance of five percent is an important incentive for manufacturers to produce smart appliances and the data show that smart grid enabled appliances can deliver a greater benefit to the American consumer than the five percent request,?? Joseph M. McGuire, AHAM President

The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) estimates that the implementation of smart grid technologies could reduce electricity use by more than four percent annually by 2030.

A cost/benefit analysis by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) for the US Department of Energy (DOE) accompanied the petition, and determined that the annual benefits from having smart grid capabilities in an appliance are greater than the costs of an equivalent five percent increase in operational machine efficiencies.

Specifically, if a consumer chooses, a smart grid enabled appliance will be able to receive a signal from a utility and automatically adjust its operation to move its electricity use to a better and less expensive time of day. PNNL’s analysis found that smart appliances can be a significant and cleaner alternative to today’s “spinning reserves,?? which are power plants that are a required to be “idling?? and are a wasteful, but necessary, part of today’s electrical grid.

Visit www.aham.org/smartgrid to download the petition to the ENERGY STAR program, and for a link to the US DOE cost/ benefit analysis on smart grid enabled appliances.

Americans Recycling 90% of Steel Appliances

Slide 7 of this Time profile, called Garbage is Good: Recycling in America, shows one utility that collected a thousand retired refrigerators during the “Cash for Appliances?? rebate program. But, it doesn’t tell the full story of America’s commendable appliance recycling record. The Steel Recycling Institute publishes annual recycling rates for multiple sectors, including home appliances. You may be surprised to know that major home appliance recycling rates in the US rival other large steel using industries such as automobiles, and steel used in construction, topping 90%. This means that 90% of appliances that reach the end of life in the United States enter the recycling stream. Studies in Canada show that their recycling rate is the same or slightly higher. And the majority of these used appliances contain metals which have a ready market for recycled materials.

Other material recycling rates are starting to edge higher too, as consumers become more aware, and the infrastructure is put in place to handle collection and recycling of such things as aluminum containers etc. In fact, on June 15, the Aluminum Association reported that the rate of beverage can recycling grew to 58.1%. Kudos to the aluminum industry for making great strides to improve recycling rates.

So, every time you place something in the recycling bin at the street, call the city for pick-up of an appliance, or allow a retailer to take back an appliance when you purchase a new one, you are contributing to the overall health of our environment.

More information on recycling of appliances can be found on AHAM’s website, or to find out how you can recycle an appliance by calling 1-800-YES-1-CAN or locate a recycling center online.

Pushing for Progress in the Realm of Smart Home Appliances

AHAM VP of Government Relations, Kevin Messner, contributed an article to the June 2011 issue of electroindustry, a monthly magazine published by the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA). The article Pushing for Progress inthe Realm of Smart Home Appliances, found on page 12 of the magazine, discusses how smart grid technology will allow consumers to automatically control energy use and costs with minimal effort and significant savings on electric bills.

The article notes the potential savings for consumers:

If just five percent of all residential energy usage could be shifted to off-peak hours, and if utility companies provide a 40 percent savings for off-peak time-of-use rates, across all households in the U.S. this would amount to a total savings of almost $900 million on residential electric bills.

Read the full article to understand AHAM's perspective on smart appliances, including concerns over consumer privacy and security. To learn more, visit www.aham.org/smartgrid.

AHAM Letter to the Editor Published in Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

A letter submitted by AHAM President Joe McGuire to the editor of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review was published today. His response rebuts Tom Purcell's opinion column on clothes washer performance, much of which was extracted from an earlier Wall Street Journal column on the same topic.

The text of the letter is posted below:

Truth comes out in wash

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Unfortunately, it appears that in his column "Needed: A washing machine that washes" (June 5 and TribLIVE.com), Tom Purcell regurgitated the bulk of an inaccurate Wall Street Journal article and details from an outdated Consumer Reports. His column is not supported by the facts such as the 2011 blog by Consumer Reports on the very same subject.

Clothes washers' gains in energy efficiency have not come at the expense of performance, particularly top loading clothes washers. Consumer Reports' deputy technical director was quoted in a recent Consumer Reports blog as saying: "As an organization that tests both performance and energy efficiency, Consumer Reports has seen product performance improve or remain at high levels, while energy efficiency standards have become increasingly stringent over the years. Washing machine performance has actually improved while dishwashers and refrigerators performance has remained at high levels."

The blog post also states "that back in 1996, Consumer Reports said 'any (top-loading) washing machine will get clothes clean,' whereas now, only some manage that feat. But that face-off compares apples to oranges: Our testing and scoring protocols for washers are significantly tougher than they were when Bill Clinton was in the White House."

Tom, have confidence in your next purchase — the appliance industry has a long history of making energy-efficient appliances that also offer optimal performance.

Joseph M. McGuire
Washington, D.C.
The writer is president of the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers (aham.org).

Where Does Your Food Waste Go?

The average American family of four generates 36 pounds of food waste each week! How you choose to dispose of this food waste can make a big impact on the environment. Food waste that is taken to landfills decomposes and produces methane, an environmentally harmful greenhouse gas that is at least 21 times more harmful than carbon dioxide.

A convenient and environmentally friendly alternative to dumping food waste in your trash can is to use your food waste disposer. Watch the video above to see what happens to your food when it goes down the drain, and how it can be converted to renewable energy.

Read more about the benefits of food waste disposers at AHAM.org.

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