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Energy Conservation and Energy Efficiency: What's the Difference?
June 9, 2011
In the 1980s, President Reagan was quoted as saying that conservation meant being cold in the winter and warm in the summer. Conservation seemed to get a bad rap in the decades to follow. It implied having to make do with less. And sometimes, it meant going without altogether.
Today, the terms energy conservation and energy efficiency are often used synonymously, but they have distinct definitions. I like how the U.S. Energy Information Administration differentiates the two.
That difference has to do with behavior and technology.
Energy conservation simply means using less energy. To achieve it, consumers have to change their behaviors—turning off lights, unplugging appliances or opting to use a clothesline instead of a clothes dryer. Conserving energy often means sacrificing something.
While there is merit in adopting conservative energy-consumption habits to avoid waste, we have the option to use less energy without having to give up comfort or convenience.
That brings me to the definition of energy efficiency.
Energy efficiency involves applying technology to use less energy while getting the same result or service. Technological advances also allow us to automatically perform some actions we used to have to do manually. Because new electric products are able to do the same tasks with less energy, energy efficiency does not necessarily come with the connotation of going without.
A compact fluorescent lightbulb (CFL) is considered energy efficient because it uses less electricity to produce the same amount of light as an incandescent lightbulb. The CFL still lights up the room just the same.
In the same way, Energy Star-rated products are intended to deliver the performance consumers expect while using less energy. Take today’s Energy Star-rated refrigerators, for example. They keep food cool with about half as much energy as refrigerators made before 1993, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Ultimately, energy efficiency may result in energy conservation—or using less energy.
I’d like to remind you why using less electricity is beneficial and why the principles of energy efficiency and energy conservation have value to you, the members of South Plains Electric Cooperative. Perhaps most obviously, using less electricity saves you money on your electric bill simply because you consume less.
Also, wholesale power costs fluctuate depending on the time of use. The cost of power increases during peak hours—early mornings and evenings—and seasons—hot summers and cold winters. In the early mornings, demand increases because we all wake up and turn on lights and appliances as we start our days.
Similarly, demand for electricity increases in the evenings because we arrive home from work, fire up the stove, turn on the TV and perhaps start a load of laundry.
And during the extreme temperatures of summer and winter, we demand electricity even more by blasting our air conditioners or heaters.
If we can diminish the use of power during those peak times, then the Cooperative’s total wholesale power cost decreases. That savings is passed along to you.
In addition, those in the electricity industry, including South Plains Electric Cooperative, are trying to find ways to reduce consumption because there could be a shortfall of electricity generation in the future. Creating energy-conserving and energy-efficient habits now will help us use electricity wisely years down the road.
I encourage you to use the principles of energy conservation and energy efficiency together. Just because you install an energy-efficient CFL in the light fixture on your front porch doesn’t mean you should leave it on 24/7. And even if you have an Energy Star-rated clothes dryer, be a good steward and think twice about running it with anything less than a full load.
By combining energy-efficient technology with conservative behavior, you can save electricity and money.
To learn more, go to www.TogetherWeSave.com.