The next time you're operating a washer/dryer, consider this: a device smaller than a business card, manufactured by a Nevada company, could reduce the electricity those machines consume by as much as 25 percent.

That device, known as a "single phase motor efficiency controller," is one of several technologies being developed by Power Efficiency Corporation of Las Vegas. Power Efficiency's patented E-Save Technology keeps the single phase motor running at a constant operating speed, but reduces the current and voltage when it detects lighter-than-usual capacity--for example, in the case of a sparsely loaded washing machine. When the load on the motor increases, the E-Save Technology' detects this and boosts power so the motor doesn't stall. Think of it as cruise control for electric motors.

This technology has been tested on multiple motor sizes and has shown energy savings of up to 60% in very lightly loaded motors, providing up to 25 percent savings overall in a washing machine.

"Energy efficiency is the 'low-hanging fruit' of energy solutions," says Steven Strasser, Chairman and CEO of Power Efficiency Corporation. "In developing a line of products that includes our single phase motor, we recognize a simple fact: It is much less expensive, destructive and time-intensive to reduce energy demand through efficiency than to increase energy supply through new power plants and transmission lines."

Power Efficiency is currently working with manufacturers to incorporate their new technology directly into new motors and appliances. With over 15 million washers and dryers sold in the U.S. in 2008, the potential for cost and energy savings for consumers and businesses, here and around the world, is quite large.