Decode the energy label to find the most energy saving electrical appliances

While many electrical appliances claim to be energy saving, how energy efficient are they? Many of you would check the energy label for the appliances’ energy efficient, but how well could you read information from the label?

1. New and old energy labels

The new energy label maintains 5 energy efficiency grades. Grade 1 products are most efficient (in green) while Grade 5 products are least efficient (in red).

Starting from 2015, room air conditioners, refrigerating appliances and washing machines supplied by importers shall bear the “U1 energy label.” The grading standards has been upgraded and tightened. Take washing machines as example, those Grade 2 to 5 machines under the previous standards, all fall under Grade 5 in the updated standards.

Under the updated standards, how much energy could a Grade 1 electrical appliance save? From the below graph, a Grade 1 refrigerator could save 97% more energy than a Grade 5 one.

2. Calculate electrical fee from energy label

You could refer to the annual electricity consumption figure to compare which appliance could save more energy. The higher figure from annual electricity consumption, the higher your electrical fee would be.

3. Be an expert in energy saving by calculating efficiency of air-conditioners.

For air-conditioners, “Efficiency = cooling capacity/hourly electricity consumption”. Let’s use the below example for a trial calculation:

The higher the energy efficiency indicates the better energy saving it is. In general, 3 or above represents very high efficiency.

4. Look at water consumption and washing capacity of washing machines

Energy label varies between different electrical appliances. Washing machines with capacity below 7 litre shall bear energy labels, which list its water consumption and washing capacity for consumers' easy comparison.