New labels for energy efficiency on electrical appliances

Energy labels for four categories of electrical appliances will change from March 1 under new EU regulations, the government’s energy service said on Monday.

The new grading system will phase out categories with + and use only the A to G rankings according to the appliance’s energy consumption with Class A (green) the most energy efficient and Class G (red) the least.

Initially, the new labels which must be visible both at physical and electronic stories, will apply to the following four groups of appliances: fridges for household use and wine, dishwashers, washing machines and driers and electronic screens.

The new labels will be expanded to lamps from September 1 and to other products at a later stage.

The new labelling will be adopted by all EU member states. It is intended to dispel confusion among consumers resulting from more and more appliances being ranked A+, A++ and A+++ due to improved energy efficiency.

Class A will for the time being remain empty so as to leave room for more energy efficient appliances that will be manufactured in the future. By leaving space for more demanding specifications, the European Commission aims to encourage innovative green development.

For consumers, the labelling will help then compare electricity consumption of the various appliances so as to choose the most energy-saving. In addition, the label serves as an incentive for companies to invest in design and development of energy efficient products.

The new labels will also feature a QR code which, when scanned, leads to the European data base on energy labeling known as EPREL. The data base features information on energy and the environment regarding products bearing the EU’s energy label and allows comparison of different appliances.