It’s officially the holiday season, which means shopping for gifts — and we bet you’ve noticed your family and friends seem to each have their own holiday shopping persona:
- The Thanksgiving Night Line-Stander, who doesn’t even wait for dessert to be served before beelining to the nearest retailer offering a hot-ticket item
- The Deal Hunter, who tracks sales with a laser focus and uses every cash-back app known to man to get some return on investment
- The Couch Potato, who does all their shopping from a mobile device, without ever setting foot in a brick-and-mortar store
- Last-Minute Larry or Lucy, who finally realizes what day it is a few hours before the gift exchange kicks off, and starts panicking
You get the idea — we all shop in our own ways. But no matter your shopping style, energy-efficient products should be on your list. These cool toys not only use the latest technology to be more efficient, but they’ll save your loved ones money on their energy bills. Plus, they’re good for the planet, helping your friends and family reduce their carbon footprint.
Here are six energy-efficient gift ideas for this holiday season:
- Digital media player: When the weather outside is frightful, sometimes the only solution is curling up under a blanket to stream a good movie or bingeable TV series. While there’s no way to control the winter weather, energy-efficient digital media players help control the bills by reducing energy usage.
- Wireless speakers: If you know a music lover who also likes to save money, ENERGY STAR-certified portable wireless speakers let them enjoy their favorite tunes from their home, office or backyard — while using about 45% less energy for 100% of the same sound quality.
- Smart thermostat: With the average American household generating an energy bill of about $900 a year, your loved ones can save a bundle while staying warm (and cool) with a high-tech smart thermostat that delivers both energy savings and reliable performance.
- Sound bar: One of the hottest AV gifts right now, sound bars are a more streamlined version of the multi-speaker surround sound system — and because they’re only a single device, they significantly cut down energy use (and save space in the home). An ENERGY STAR-certified model uses about 70% less energy than conventional sound bars.
- Computer: Whether you know a student who’d appreciate having portable tech during marathon study (or movie-watching) sessions, a serious gamer who’s had their eye on a state-of-the-art desktop, or a family member who would love their own personal computer, ENERGY STAR-certified laptops and desktops are engineered to use about 60% less energy without sacrificing quality and processing power.
- Tablet: For the technophile who prefers a bigger screen than a phone when streaming videos, reading ebooks and browsing the internet, but doesn’t want to haul around a laptop, energy-efficient tablets make the perfect holiday gift.