The typical American household uses about 10,000 kwh of electricity per year (approximately 34 Million BTU's, or 6 barrels of crude oil, or 36 thousound cubic ft of natural gas, or 1.7 tons of coal.) for all its appliances and heating. While many Americans have a pretty good feel for how much electricity their typical appliances consume and cost they may be unaware of the environmental costs associated with that useage. Electricity is not necessarily clean, as much of it is produced in power plants fueled by coal, oil or natural gas, which throw off CO2. For each kwh of electricity generated from a coal burning power plant approximately 2 lbs of CO2 is emitted into the atmosphere.

Energy Star is a program developed by the EPA in conjunction with the major appliance manufacturers to provide an easy way for consumers to find and purchase appliances that use less energy, and thus cost less on an annual basis, but also importantly cause less harm to the environment.