The Today Show 1980 - 16mm Film

[cadman]

Now here's a real conversation starter....Betty Furness introduces the new EnergyGuide on The Today Show, 1981.

 

[supersuds]

You can be sure she got in a reference to Westinghouse!

 

[phillymatt53]

You can be sure she got in a reference to Westinghouse!

She was the spokeperson for Westinghouse for decades, and coined that famous line.... You can be SURE of that!

But that Energy Guide stuff?
Just more Marketing chatter nonsense.
Because utility rates are fluid, and always changing.
So what you think you're saving at a given time, the utility chomps a bigger cost out of your pocket eventually.

My 6 year old AO Smith hot water heater with it's "Energy Guide" also worthless babble, because 6 years ago my water rate was substantially different than today's cost for the same amount of water.
And no, it doesn't even use electricity, the burner is self powered.

 

[qsd-dan]

She was the spokeperson for Westinghouse for decades, and coined that famous line.... You can be SURE of that!

But that Energy Guide stuff?
Just more Marketing chatter nonsense.

It also does not indicate the lifespan of the appliance nor reliability. I'll trade more energy use for longer reliability and longer lifespan.

My 1975 Maytag 806 washer is a pig by today's front loading washer standards (still more efficient than a Speed Queen top loader), but it's still going 50 years later.

 

[phillymatt53]

It also does not indicate the lifespan of the appliance nor reliability. I'll trade more energy use for longer reliability and longer lifespan.

My 1975 Maytag 806 washer is a pig by today's front loading washer standards (still more efficient than a Speed Queen top loader), but it's still going 50 years later.

Indeed!

Now think about this.....
Your energy-saver appliance cost $500, and says you'd save 100 dollars a year...
And breaks down in 5 years, requiring replacement....
So now, you've got to put out $950 for a new appliance. (inflation)

It's all a mind-numbing "numbers game" that people have been led on to confuse you.
I refuse to get on those merry-go-rounds that a lot of people fall for.
I blame marketing, corporate corruption, and greed for the way things are these days.

 

[combo52]

Thanks again Cory for this important piece of history.

This was a huge breakthrough when they finally started labeling appliances for the energy they were likely to use, before this manufacturers got away with all kinds of nonsense telling you this that's more efficient.

The interesting thing is that the higher efficiency appliances in this era generally lasted much longer than the ones that burned more energy.

That 17.2 ft.³ Whirlpool refrigerator they featured they had replaced all the fiberglass insulation in the body and foamed the whole thing in that refrigerator was so efficient over the long haul that they lasted so much longer. The compressor didn’t have to work hard. There wasn’t near as much heat underneath. It was a really great refrigerator even the higher efficiency evaporator fan motor and condenser did not run as hot and did not fail nearly as often as the regular models, we sold a lot of those refrigerators and they worked great, I still see some of these as 2nd refs in peoples basements going strong while the power hog frost-free models are pretty much long gone.

The first thing I did when I bought my house in 1977 was installed central air conditioning. I bought the top-of-the-line whirlpool central air conditioner with a 9.6 E ER which today translates to about a 13 seer. I paid $675 for the coil the lines in the outdoor unit and installed it myself. A neighbor of mine across the street had had a gas air-conditioning system which failed and he was replacing the system himself. I suggested I could get him one of these high-efficiency whirlpool’s but he said no that’s too much money. He bought a Tappan system for a little over $500 and installed it himself.

He had to replace that air-conditioning system two more times over the next 30 years that he lived there. Meanwhile, my whirlpool was running silently along. You couldn’t even hear the thing it was so efficient outside and it lasted 42 years probably saving me well more than $1000 in electricity.

Certainly, every case is not the same, but today, the highest efficiency appliances are generally gonna be more reliable than the least efficient ones for the many of the same reasons.

The good news is the energy star program was so effective that virtually all refrigerators are quite efficient today, the same thing with central air-conditioning with the minimum of energy standards. It’s hard to buy one that’s really bad, but there are still better choices in many cases so this is still an important program.

Unfortunately in the US it never covered gas and electric range efficiency and as a result manufactures took advantage of this loophole and ranges bought today [almost without exception ] use more energy than similar models did in 1980.

John L

 

[vacerator]

Matt first off, AO Smith water heaters have been garbage for decades. In 1996, our home warranty put one in. It lasted 5 years. The two kids were living here.
Secondly, appliances made in the 80's were way better than now. The energy savings for refrigerators came from the switch from No Frost to automatic timed defrost. No frost meant the heater was always on. For dishwashers, it was air dry only. BTU's on dryers by Whirlpool were reduced only slightly in compensation for the slightly faster spin r.p.m. of the new direct drive washers.