What do the labels on household appliances mean?

When you buy a washing machine, dishwasher or TV we pay great attention to the technical aspects. We become amateur experts in washing programmes, in screen sizes, or in image resolutionstandards. We also think about the aesthetic aspects. And logically you pay special attention to the price.

All this is absolutely normal. But if you forget about the energy label you are making a mistake which you will cost you money. Remember that 55% of the electricity you spend is for your appliances.

That incomprehensible sticker with an icon that normally goes from A to G is not ornamental. It is there to inform you about the consumption of the appliance concerned. And not only the consumption of electricity, but also the water it uses or the noise that it makes while it's operating.

History of the energy label

Energy labels began to be implemented in 1995, but only for refrigerators, freezers, washing machines and dishwashers. With the passage of the years they were extended to ovens, televisions, air conditioners, etc.

Today this labelling is compulsory and is regulated by European Union Directive 92/75/EEC. They indicate the energy efficiency of each appliance. The more efficient it is the less it consumes and, therefore, the more you save in your electricity bill.

The label format has changed over the years. For example, initially the scale was A to G. However it became necessary to invent higher categories,,since fortunately appliances had become even more efficient.

“The original scale (from A to G) became obsolete and A +, A ++, and A +++ ratings soon appeared, while E, F and G disappeared.”

Thus successive + symbols were added to the letter A, which initially symbolised the maximum efficiency. And the letters that identified lower efficiency (such as F and G) started to disappear.

The mutations of this scale confused consumers, who saw the letter A change from meaning "the best" to meaning "standard tending towards bad".

In August 2017 the European Commission enacted a new "rescaling": classes A +, A ++ and A +++ will now disappear and the original classification from A to G will return. Class A appliances will again become the top of the pyramid of energy efficiency and the venerable +++ will be suppressed.

This new labelling will not appear immediately or all at the same time, either. The first reclassified labels will not come in until 2020 and only in 2030 is it expected that all products will follow the new system.

So let's focus on the present. Appliances that are currently in your home and any that you can buy at the moment do not follow the new scale. So we will explain to you the workings of the old one, which will remain effective until 2020.

The energy indicator: the most and the least efficient devices

This type of design mimics the logic of the traffic light, shading colours from maximum efficiency (green) to the minimum level (red).

What it does is compare the consumption of the different generations of appliances, with 100% representing the consumption of the least efficient devices. The top and bottom of the scale are represented by A +++ (excellence in energy efficiency) and D (devices that are beginning to become obsolete).

Highly efficient consumption:

• A +++. Dark green, it represents consumption of less than 25%.
• A ++. With its intermediate green colour, it symbolizes consumption of less than 30%.
• A +. Its pale green colour represents consumption estimated as from 30% to 42%.

Moderately efficient consumption:

• A. Yellow in colour, it offers average consumption between 42% and 55%.
• B. Identified by the colour orange, it represents consumption of between 55% and 75%.

Low efficiency of consumption:

• C. Bright orange in colour, it represents a consumption level of between 75% and 90%.
• D. Red in colour, it indicates that it has a consumption level of between 90% and 100%.

“In 2020 the current scale (from A+++ to D) will be replaced by the original scale (from A to G).”