Recent technological advancement has paved the way for energy efficient appliances that can lower your Long Beach rental’s monthly power bills, reduce the level of energy your tenants use, and contribute to a cleaner environment. Although
energy efficient appliances for your rental may come at a higher cost, the initial investment can be worth the overall gain in lower electric bills and attracting the right tenant.
You might be saying “it doesn’t matter to me, my tenant’s pay the bill” . We encourage you to look at it from the tenant’s view. A lower bill allows them more flexibility, demonstrates they have a landlord who cares about their bills, and creates a better rental environment.
Below are a range of energy efficient appliances to consider, as well as the money they can save you.
Dishwashers
Over the last decade, dishwasher technology has made notable improvements. Replacing your rental’s old dishwasher with an energy efficient counterpart can save almost 4,000 gallons of water and the cost to run an energy efficient dishwasher is only about $35 a year.
Furthermore, modern dishwasher models have dozens of new and helpful components, such as warmer water temperature settings and a soil-sensor to determine if the water runs clean after washing a dish. Implementing one of these energy efficient dishwashers will encourage your tenants to stop washing dishes by hand. Not only will this save them hours of time, but it will also conserve their water use, thereby lowering your rental’s monthly water bill.
Refrigerators
Energy efficient refrigerators are one of the easiest ways to switch to more eco-friendly rental appliances as they include a variety of innovative features to save you hundreds of dollars over their twelve-year life span. Some of these features include added insulation that keeps food cold and high-efficiency compressors that reduce the energy used to regulate temperature.
Overall, these refrigerators tend to be about 9% more energy efficient than regular refrigerators, which reduces your rental’s costs and emissions.
Refrigerators are appliances that sometimes tenants like to bring their own. We recommend developing a policy on whether you provide a refrigerator or you want your tenant’s to bring their own. Consistency is key in this area.
Washers
Washers are notorious for using an abundance of water and energy during each cycle. When you have two or more tenants, the cost of those cycles can add up. However, energy efficient washers significantly lower the amount of water your tenants use per cycle by around 33% and the amount of energy by about 25%. For energy costs alone, this saves you almost $370.
Energy efficient washers typically ditch the central agitator, allowing your tenants to wash more clothes in a single cycle. Not only does this help your tenants, but it is also better for the environment as it requires less cycles and uses less hot water.
Tankless Water Heaters
As previously discussed on our blog post about
Seasonal Checklists, tankless water heaters are a wonderful inclusion to consider for your rental property. For one, they take up less space than a conventional water heater, which can be especially helpful if your rental does not have a garage. Additionally, they save energy and markedly cut costs by only heating water when you turn on the faucet.
Standard water heaters are notoriously the second highest energy user in American homes. Switching to a tankless water heater could save you around $1,500 and remarkably reduce your rental’s emissions.
Heating and Air Conditioning Units
Smart thermostats such as Google Nest and ecobee have changed the game for heating and air conditioning in homes. What makes these thermostats so unique is that they do more than warm and cool your rental. Rather, they learn from your tenants preferences and adjust the temperature to fit their needs.
Most notably, their learning capabilities are incredibly energy efficient. According to Google, the Nest thermostats alone have saved over 78,300,000,000 kWh of energy! This is largely due to the smart thermostats’ ability to turn off when your rental is empty. Then, when it detects that your tenants are almost home (by tracking their phones), it automatically starts warming or cooling the rental to reach their ideal temperature.
Some other neat aspects of smart thermostats include the ability to set the temperature via your phone, smart speaker, or smart watch, constant system monitoring to alert you of any potential mechanical issues, and an energy-saving mode.
All of these components make smart thermostats the future of heating and air conditioning and a welcome feature to boost your Long Beach rental.
Finding the best energy efficient appliances is easy. Simply look for any appliances with the Energy Star logo. Energy Star is the government-supported leader in testing and certifying energy efficient appliances to reduce power costs and greenhouse gas emissions. You can find a large selection of Energy Star models at your local appliance store or Home Depot.
Hiring a Long Beach property management company can make finding and installing the latest technologies easier. If you would like assistance with energy efficient appliances or other additions to your rental, we invite you to call us today at (562) 888-0247 or you can fill out our
Owner Application online.
