You go to work in the morning, get a cup of coffee, start work and later, go for some juice and maybe a bag of fries when you feel hungry. Of course, your management wants you to be comfortable at work so the office is temperature-controlled - the air conditioners are turned on when it is too warm and heaters are turned on when it gets too cold. Your office has refrigerators to stash food in, microwave ovens to heat the food and possibly a dishwasher, if you use re-useable food service. Then there are water heaters to heat water used in the green office kitchen and washrooms.
If you think about it, you will notice exactly how many appliances are present even in a small business starting from the ubiquitous green coffee maker to the dishwasher. Obviously, all these appliances use up energy. The coolants used for the compressors in air conditioners and refrigerators have an environmental impact as do these appliances when they are disposed off improperly. How do you know if your office appliances are green? How can you have eco-friendly appliances in your office?
What do you need to assess if you want to find out how environmentally friendly an appliance is? There are three factors that decide the eco-friendliness of a green appliance
- Water consumption
- Energy efficiency
- Toxicity.

Energy efficient appliances reduce costs in two ways:

- They use lesser energy
- They throw off lesser heat, which reduces the load on other green appliances used to maintain thermal comfort.
Both these factors are instrumental in as much as a 50 percent reduction in utility bills.
Here are five ways that you can be environmentally friendly while choosing and using green office appliances.

Green Office Appliances # Tip 1 - Conduct An Energy Audit

Energy audits tell you where there is potential for energy savings. Using the results of an energy audit, you can identify those appliances that waste energy and have them replaced with greener ones.

Green Office Appliances # Tip 2 - Go For Energy-star Rated Appliances

Energy-star rated appliances are those that conserve both energy and water and most common green office appliances have Energy-star certified versions available. Be sure to stock your office with such appliances. They can cut down energy consumption by 10-50 percent. They can also save paper and water, if applicable. You can see the reduction in costs within three to five years.

Green Office Appliances # Tip 3 - Harness the Power Of The Sun

Explore the possibility of installing a solar-powered heater to heat the water for your business, instead of gas-fired heaters that use precious non-renewable resources. Solar heating also has negligible impact on the green environment.

Green Office Appliances # Tip 4 - Choose an Air-conditioner Of The Right Capacity

Air conditioners should be selected to suit the size of the room they are to cool; buying one that is too powerful or too small results in inefficient use green office appliances of energy.

Green Office Appliances # Tip 5 - Use A Ceiling Fan Whenever Possible

Ceiling fans are inexpensive and low-power appliances compared to air conditioners and should be used green office appliances as much as possible to conserve energy especially at times when it is just slightly warm and turning on an air conditioner is not justified.