What can be done to help manufacturers and retailers afford to build and sell energy efficient devices cheap?

Question

It seems that cost is a big decision factor for a lot of people and for the manufacturers, what can be done to get the price down on these devices so that they are more affordable and so that the demand for the products increases?

I appreciate the view on cheap from Newwavehotdog. Thank You. It was a very very good comment.

I did wonder if I should use less costly instead of the word cheap but the Yahoo question space was too small so I ran out of room. I was hoping the majority would equate the word cheap with the phrase less costly. This is what I was really asking.

Answer 1

Only time and less damn Governmental regulation. No offense, but I am getting tired of people wanting the newest technologies that might cost hundreds of millions to billions to research and develop for super cheap prices where the companies can't even turn a profit. Especially since material costs, energy costs, and health costs have all been jumping lately. You can not buy something for less than cost to make it unless we give all of our money to the Government and be like Eastern Europe and Russia was.

Answer 2

In general, increasing the volume of production decreases the per item cost, but that requires having the demand to warrant more manufacturing. It's a vicious cycle.

I think there should be more funding available for alternative energy research. I would like to see new companies starting with the goal of providing efficient products, but I think new technologies are more likely to reach mainstream acceptability if they come from familiar and trusted companies.

To increase demand we need to find ways to reinforce the idea that you can reduce long-term spending on energy costs by using efficient devices (since more people will be influenced by their pocketbook rather than their eco-awareness). Unfortunately, it's hard to remind someone of their monthly energy bill when they're faced with a one-time purchase. It's a small step, but when I recently purchased a new washer there was an extra rebate available because I got an energy efficient model.

Answer 3

Often it IS cheaper or equivalent cost to manufacture things in a responsible manner but manufacturers are hesitant to make the change. I have years of experience working on this issue and much of the time (not always) it costs the same or is cheaper to do things in a "greener" and responsible manner.

A big part of the equation is the market--if you can signal a market shift (everyone is going greener and this is what consumers are actually seeking) then it seems that many manufacturers will make the change. You would like to believe that if corporations can have a social ethic for the common good, that would be enough to move us in the right direction. Sometimes, those pioneers are the ones that help the market shift. Danish shipping line Maersk recently announced that they would use a much cleaner fuel in all of its ships visiting the Port of Los Angeles (biggest port in the US). Before, all the shipping lines said it was impossible to be cleaner but because of Maersk they look bad unless they step up and try.

In Europe, some places factor in the cost of responsibly desposing of the product into the total cost or they make the manufacturer responsible for the product from "cradle to the grave." Meaning it's harder to make crappy stuff out of toxic/wasteful materials that will flood landfills.

I think one important way consumers can make a difference is by supporting things that are made in a responsible manner. This means instead of going to target and buying something cheap that will break soon--paying more for something that was made well.

Curbing the amount we consume, partnered with wise decisions about what we do choose to buy is a great place to start. Put your money where your mouth is and support good companies that do good things.

The Public Policy Institute of California recently did a survey where 3 out of 4 people said they would be willing to pay more for a product if it was more responsibly made/sold.

When something is cheap, it's not that we're getting a good deal--we are still paying in the end through our taxes for things like landfills, medical care for public health damaged by pollution and the like.

Answer 4

When the manufacturer buys the parts, don't tell the company they're buying the parts from what they're going to use the parts for. Then they should be able to get the parts cheap, and build energy effiecient devices. Then, since they got them cheap, sell them to retailers cheap, who will in turn sell them to us cheap...and then the more energy efficient devices out there, the better chance we have of knocking out the energy-eating devices, since nobody will buy those anymore. (it's all marketing) ;)

Answer 5

AFFORD, I'm not sure. To MOTIVATE them to design, build and sell more energy efficient products, we, the consumers, must refuse to buy the inefficient ones. We control the demand; we must discipline ourselves to go without and so drive up the demand for the efficient products.

Answer 6

Tax devices that are inefficient. That will reduce demand for them and create demand for efficient replacements. As volume builds to satisfy that demand, economies of scale will reduce the costs.

Answer 7

Buy them! Economies of scale will kick in as time goes on making the next generation of products cheaper and more efficient. It's the way the economy works...

Answer 8

Training and Education

Answer 9

If it's anything like oil companys the administration says if we give them more money(pump prices vs. production costs) and government donatives then they will just magically research new sciences to make themselves obsolete out of the goodness of their hearts.

Answer 10

Leave 'em alone.