Greening Austin Daily

Energy Star Appliances Not Always Most Energy-Efficient

14th April, 2010 - Posted by katherine - 1 Comment

In light of the recent rebates Texas is giving out for energy-efficient appliances, I thought this NPR article was interesting. It notes that Consumer Reports found that “two of the refrigerators it tested used about 50 percent more energy than the numbers on their labels. Another pair used 39 percent more and 33 percent more” and that “the Energy Star program is self-certifying — meaning the government doesn’t independently confirm the data it gets from manufacturers.” However, the article notes that “The Department of Energy has said it will soon change the system to include third-party verification.”
So I guess the moral of the story is to make sure you do your research and see if you can find any info online about the product before you buy it, and hopefully the Department of Energy will change its system soon.