Replies

I particularly like the on that eliminates Energy Star. Last year we bought two such appliances to replace old units. One was a dishwasher. It takes 99 minutes to do a wash and dry cycle. If we don’t almost hand wash the dishes and pots and pans prior to placing them in the dishwasher, it will not clean them and they are seldom completely dried even though the power dry feature is used. Old unit took from 30 to 45 minutes and unless there was baked on food deposits on the dishes or pots, they always came out sparkling clean and completely dry.

Another opportunity to cut government spending is to eliminate Head Start in all public school districts that offer prekindergarten. There is no need for duplicate the services.

The other appliance was a upright freezer. It is also ES and it is so noisy you can hardly stay in the same room with it. Runs considerably more than the 20 year old unit that it replaced. I am convinced that the Energy Star rating is a complete hoax. I also read that many time the government employees at the DOE that are responsible for testing and certifying ES appliances many times don’t do the necessary testing and just give the appliance an ES rating. I say do away with this vast waste of tax money.

Actually, the reason your dishwasher doesn’t clean anymore is because phosphates have been removed from almost every dishwashing detergent. Check the box - would almost bet it says that on the box so you can feel good about yourself. Some environmental hooey. BTW, I think “Finish” is one of the last dishwashing detergents to have phosphates still in it. Stock up.

The dry cycle on our new GE dishwasher seems to last several hours — at least some blower is running that long. When I complained to GE, they said the new energy regs made them cut their heater element power by half so they (guess what?) run the heaters twice as long!

Yes, kill all of EPA and Energy Star.

"But what exactly does a product need to prove to earn the coveted Energy Star label? That very question was put to the test last June by Congressional auditors posing as four separate companies submitting products to the Environmental Protection Agency and the Energy Department, which jointly run the Energy Star program. The results were enlightening.

For instance, a gasoline-powered alarm clock sailed through the program without objection after purposely fraudulent documents were submitted saying it was 20-percent more efficient than competing models. How'd that happen? Apparently, there is an automated system in place that granted an auto-approval to the gas-swilling wake-up machine."

Gasoline powered alarm clock catches Energy Star off guard

Head start, pre-kindergarten, and kindergarten should all be eliminated. There is no evidence that any of these programs accomplish anything except serve as “free” babysitting services subsidized by taxpayers.

It makes it easy for single parents to farm out responsibility for their kids instead of raising them. As someone who was a single dad for years, I saw how these welfare programs were abused...and the primary beneficiaries are single unwed mothers who vote Democrat. Go figure.

http://www.dailytech.com/GAO+Discovers+EnergyStar+Program+is+Incredibly+Flawed/article17989.htm

Energy Star is a fraud. The GAO proved it. It only exists as a selling point for industry.

Incompetence, carelessness, and misinformation — Congressional investigators found all of those things when investigating the EnergyStar program over the course of the last year.

Congressional auditors posing as companies secured EnergyStar credentials for 12 bogus products since last June, illustrating deep problems with the green certification program.

Among the bogus products that received the supposedly prestigious distinction were a “gasoline-powered alarm clock” and an “air purifier”, which really was an electric space heater with a feather duster glued to the top.

Another opportunity to cut government spending is to eliminate Head Start in all public school districts that offer prekindergarten. There is no need for duplicate the services.

Good point. I don't see why kindergarten is needed anyway - before unions started dumbing down our schools, nobody went to kindergarten and our scores on international math and science tests were much higher than they are now. Actually teaching - and failing when appropriate - childen in grades 1-12 is what is needed.

I am convinced that the Energy Star rating is a complete hoax.

It is. Last year the GAO did an investigation, submitting Energy Star applications for some fictitious — and outrageous — products, like a gasoline-powered alarm clock, which was approved! See this NY Time article from last March:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/26/science/earth/26star.html

I have a high efficiency washing machine, it is HORRIBLE!!! You have to do very small loads and wash on the longest cycle for the clothes to get remotely clean. I don’t see how it saves any energy when I have to do triple the amount of loads at 60 minutes run time each.