Energy efficient appliances

Energy Labels
The best way to find energy efficient appliances is to look for energy labels. They provide you with all the information you need.

The EU Energy Label
The EU Energy Label scale runs from A (the most energy efficient) down to G (the least efficient). For some products, such as washing machines, manufacturers have voluntarily phased out the low D-G grades. Always look for A labelled products.

Washing Machines
For washing machines the Energy Label grades three categories - energy efficiency, wash performance and spin efficiency - so look for those rated AAA (most models get As except for ‘spin’).

You can find a list on the Saving Recommended website (see below). Ethical Consumer rates the best AAA washing machines according to its own ethical criteria.

With three quarters of all washing machines rated A for energy manufacturers have taken it on themselves to use an A+ rating for the best perfomers – currently about 15% of models. Although A+ models meet a common standard this isn’t yet part of the EU scheme so Energy Labels for these machines will still display the energy efficiency class as A.

Fridges and freezers
Use A+ and A++ ratings to distinguish between the increasing numbers of A-rated models.

A+ are at least 25% more efficient than standard A models, A++ appliances up to 64% more. The label must also display the actual energy the appliance uses, which is shown in kilowatt hours (kWh) per year. This figure is useful for comparing, for example, two A+ rated fridges. Remember, if they are different sizes they will use different amounts of energy.

Dishwashers
Dishwashers actually use less water and electricity than washing by hand. Surprised? That’s the conclusion of a study by the University of Bonn, which compared the amount of water, energy and detergent used by human dishwashers to the machine kind. Of course this doesn’t take account of the energy and materials used to build a dishwasher.

Dishwashers are also rated for washing and drying performance, so again AAA is the best.

Electric or Gas?
An energy label for gas ovens is not expected until 2008 at the earliest, so there is no guidance for consumers wanting to choose a gas cooker with the lowest climate change impact.
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f your electricity comes from a green electricity provider– it will be better for the environment to cook electric. If you are using dirty old ‘brown’ electricity then gas is more climate friendly because gas produces less emissions than the mix of coal, gas, renewables and nuclear that makes up standard UK electricity supply.

‘ENERGY SAVING RECOMMENDED’ logo
Developed by the Energy Saving Trust (EST) the Energy Saving Recommended logo appears on a wide range of products including fridges, freezers, dishwashers, washing machines, tumble dryers, light bulbs, light fittings, gas boilers and heating controls.

The EST logo means that a fridge or freezer is A+ or A++ rated on the EU Energy Label. The EST claims that if every household in the UK replaced their old fridge freezer with an Energy Efficiency Recommended one, electricity equivalent to the output of two typical power stations would be saved each year. The EST website has a database of products entitled to bear the logo.

EU ECOLABEL
There are only a handful of products currently available in UK shops carrying the EU Ecolabel.

Products carrying the EU Ecolabel must be energy rated A+ or A++, must be HFC free, and are guaranteed to be serviceable for 12 years from the time that production ceases. The manufacturer offers free of charge take-back for recycling of the appliance and of components being replaced. The label also guarantees noise levels and the safety of flame retardant chemicals.