Monday 5 September 2022: Energy Efficiency Labelling

Monday 5 September 2022: Energy Efficiency Labelling

A1. When was the last time you purchased a kitchen appliance? What did you buy? 

I bought a Daewoo air fryer, about three years ago. I bought it to replace a failed Daewoo Airfryer, which I had bought to replace a failed Daewoo Airfryer.

My focus was strongly on trying to reduce my spending on electrical heating, and therefore consuming as little electricity as possible. I understood air fryers to cook food using much less electricity than a standard electric oven. 

When I bought the machine, there was no energy efficiency labelling on the appliance, nor on the packaging, nor in the documentation (I have just been to check). The same situation applies to the Morphy Richards breadmaker, of which I have now consecutively owned seven.

Besides, much of the value of efficiency labelling involves indicating the percentage of consumed electrical power devoted to the purpose of the appliance, rather than being wasted as heat. As heat for cooking was what I required of the air fryer, energy efficiency labelling seemed somewhat superfluous.

Regarding my purchase of the air fryer, the materials/resources (sometimes referred to as 'embodied carbon') used to make each flawed machine considerably outweighed any issues of energy efficiency. I require an appliance to last a long time and receive a lot of use. Whilst I should prefer that it did so energy efficiently, this is secondary to its usefulness and longevity. I accept that a breadmaker making 150-200 loaves a year for three years reaches the end of its life, and the embodied carbon in its manufacture (and transportation) must be factored in to total energy use - a balance may have to be struck between greater longevity (proportionately less embodied carbon) and greater energy efficiency (how little electrical energy it uses to do its job).

When I can, I try to have appliances (washing machine, dishwasher, fridge, microwave oven) repaired. The microwave oven that I had had for twenty years had been repaired several times before it failed irreparably. When I bought a replacement microwave oven from Argos on 12 September 2019, energy efficiency was one of the criteria I tried to find out about, but failed. 

A2. Thinking about when you bought this appliance, what were the top three things you looked for? Why? This may include things like the model, cost, style/design, capacity, how energy efficient it was, good reviews, available in a shop near you etc

My purchasing criteria tend to be many, including (in this order) whether I actually require the appliance and how much I am likely to use it, how reliable it is reputed to be (which may or may not include brand), bad customer reviews on websites, price/affordability, how easily it can be returned if faulty. I have little interest in style. All other things being equal, I would choose a more energy efficient appliance over a less energy efficient appliance. I buy mostly online.

A3. To what extent do you consider energy labels to be important?

I consider energy labels to have a modest level of importance, but mostly in terms of pushing manufacturers to make their appliances more energy efficient regardless of whether the customer takes much notice of them. Public-facing organisations (such as the Consumer Association) promote good practice and expose short-comings, thus indirectly influencing customer decisions.

B1. What type of information would you expect to gain from water efficiency labelling. What should the label tell you/measure? Do you consider that the water efficiency label should include how much water the appliance uses per cycle, and how much water is used to manufacture the item?

As indicated above, I consider that the value of water efficiency labelling would mostly lie in the pressure on manufacturers to reduce the amount of water used by the appliances they manufacture, and during the manufacturing process, rather than directly influencing the buying decisions of customers. I could imagine, however, that environmental pressure groups might attempt to influence regulators to bring about, or tighten, regulations regarding the maximum amount of water an appliance should use.

For my own interest, I find it valuable to know the volume of water used by a cycle of each programme of an appliance.  However, I would not expect to find this information on a sticky label. Neither would I be adequately equipped to interpret the data without appropriate context (requiring more information and a computer). I suppose what I might find useful would be the kind of energy ratings regarding lightbulbs (until they started adding plusses). This would tell me that an appliance has been rated (by someone, but by whom?) as being less or more water efficient.

2. How much impact do you think water efficiency labelling would have on you? Why?

• Thinking about your friends and family, how beneficial do you feel these would be to them? Why? 
• When it comes to trust, what level of trust would you have in these labels? Why? 

The most water-efficient appliance is often the one not bought in the first place. Is it really necessary to have the appliance?

Would I choose to buy an appliance that I knew to be a little less water efficient than another? Yes, if it had other benefits. How about very much less water efficient than another model? No, possibly not ... and yet ... if an appliance's water efficiency rating was based on a singe 'Eco' setting, and the water efficiency of other programme settings was no different from that of any other similar appliance, then I hope that I would not be suckered into buying the greenwash.

I would not trust a manufacturer's own water efficiency rating, no more than I would trust car manufacturers to tell the truth about fuel economy and exhaust emissions.  

3. Which would be more important to you, an energy or water efficiency label? Why?

As indicated above, I consider the value of efficiency labelling appliances lies in the pressure it can exert on manufacturers to improve the efficiency (water or energy) of the appliances they manufacture, and to reduce water/energy use during the manufacturing process, rather than informing customers to help them choose between two similar appliances. Given all the qualifications about which I have written above, I consider both water efficiency and energy efficiency to be equally important.