My husband and I have had to buy a new appliances in the past 2-3 years. One of the things looked at was the Energy Star label. Being the frugal gal that I am, anything that saves me money or the old catch phrase "it will pay for it self" usually gets me. I trusted that having an Energy Star label was going to cost less to run. Well according to The truth behind the Energy Star Label that is not necessarily the case.
The magazine found that the testing is least reliable on TVs, air conditioners, desktop computers, laptop computers and VCRs.
Price are typical 20%-40% higher with the Energy Star Logo. Some items above are tested being turned off. HUH?????
The Energy Star logo is more reliable on dishwashers, refrigerators, freezers and washing machines. And consumers are willing to pay the higher price in exchange for the lower utility bills.
Sears has 20 Energy Star Washers on its website ranging from $429 to $999. One lone non Energy Star one is $529. Manufactures seem to think having the Energy Star Labels helps.
Certain products, including dryers, ovens, home water heaters, toaster or toaster ovens and MP3 players should never have the logo, but often do.
"This is one of the most egregious violations," she told Chen. "Clothes dryers use so much energy and they all use basically the same energy no matter what. They are excluded from the program. They aren't allowed to participate."
But some stores display rows of dryers with the Energy Star label prominently displayed, because retailers are allowed to participate in the marketing of the Energy Star program. While managers promised to correct the mistake, "in the meantime, lots of consumers went in and bought a dryer thinking they were going to save energy and it's not possible."
Now I find this completely appalling. However it is always consumer beware. I just checked a number of dryers on Sears and Best Buy's website and none of them had the Energy Star Label. I did find some other selling trademark "Even Heat Technology" and WrinkleShield™ which tumbles clothes intermittently without heat to prevent wrinkles. As I said Buyer Beware.
The more reliable way of checking whether a product is energy efficient is to look at the energy guide, which is on the back of all appliances.
"It's a yellow and black label mandated by the (Federal Trade Commission)," she said. "That's the energy guide label. This isn't the marketing splash of the Energy Star. It's an FTC required label that tells you where this falls in the range of other appliances and how much you'll save per year. This is a much better indicator. Not that the Energy Star means it's bad. It's just not always what consumers are led to believe."
2 comments:
A timely reminder as my full length freezer broke down last night and I lost all it's contents :(
I am all about the stars too. Big outlay initially, cheaper bills for the lifetime of the product (and better for the environment). A no brainer. Thanks for Rewinding x
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