The electricity and gas we produce and use to run household appliances increases our greenhouse gas emissions which are harmful to our environment. By choosing energy-efficient appliances, you can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and save money on energy bills.
Many electric appliances sold in Australia have an Energy Rating Label to help you compare how much electricity the product uses against other appliances. The label also provides an incentive for manufacturers to improve the energy performance of household appliances. A Gas Rating Label can be found on gas space heaters, ducted heating, and gas water heaters.
Sometimes high star-rated models can cost a little more to buy, but choosing a cheaper product with fewer stars could end up costing you more in the long run. This is because running costs over the product’s lifetime can easily add up to more than the original purchase price. If you look at the running costs like a “second price tag” it could help you decide which appliance to buy.
Electric appliances
Energy Rating Labels are on all televisions (imported since August 2009), air conditioners, clothes dryers, dishwashers, washing machines and most fridges and freezers.
There are two label styles: the normal 6-star label and the super-efficient 10-star label for appliances rated as 7 stars and higher.
- The star rating gives a quick assessment of the model's energy efficiency. The more stars, the more efficient the appliance is compared to other models in its category.
- The energy consumption figure shows an estimate of how much energy the appliance uses each year. The lower the figure, the greater the savings.
- You can use the Energy Rating website to compare the energy-efficiency of electrical appliances and televisions.
- Keep in mind that televisions should be compared against models of equivalent screen size and appliances are rated against models with similar features such as size, volume and capacity.
Gas products
A Gas Energy Rating Label can be found on 3 household products: gas space heaters, ducted heating, and gas water heaters (storage and instantaneous). Gas labelling is currently an industry voluntary scheme.
- The gas label is similar to the electrical appliance label except it is blue in colour and the annual energy consumption is shown in MJ (megajoules) per year.
- The star rating gives a quick assessment of the model's energy efficiency. The more stars, the more efficient the appliance is compared to other models in that category.
- The energy consumption figure provides an estimate of how much energy the appliance uses each year. The lower the figure, the more efficient.
- Look in-store for the label on the display models.
Appliances without star ratings
For products without energy ratings, you can find out how much energy they use and compare this with products of a similar size or capacity.- You can then estimate the running costs of appliances and technology with and without a star rating by using a simple calculation.
- You could also check to see if the product has the voluntary blue ENERGY STAR® mark to help you identify energy efficient products. Remember to also check which manufacturers include energy saving features in their products.
