Like Choice, we've seen energy-use discrepancies.
In "
LG's Uncool Claims,"
Choice magazine, Australia's version of
Consumer Reports, details some energy-use issues with the LG GC-L197NFS side-by-side refrigerator and the similar GC-P197WFS:
"LG claims the fridge's annual energy consumption is 738kWh, but our testing shows it actually uses considerably more when it bypasses a special 'energy-saving mode,'" reports
Choice about the LG GC-L197NFS side-by-side. "LG knows circumvention modes such as these do not comply with the relevant testing standard . . . yet this popular fridge and the similar GC-P197WFS model still somehow 'slipped through the net' and were released and sold. The company is now offering an energy label rebate of $331.20 (the cost of extra energy use @20 cents/kWh over 12 years) to compensate consumers who purchased an affected model."
For some LG and LG-made refrigerators,
Consumer Reports has also seen discrepancies between the energy use (in kilowatt hours of electricity) indicated on the EnergyGuide labels and the measurements we get from our own energy testing, which is different from and tougher than the U.S. Department of Energy-mandated energy-use testing procedure for refrigerators.
For more details on our findings, read our October 2008 investigative report "
Energy Star Has Lost Some Luster." In November 2008, the
Energy Department announced that several LG and LG-made Kenmore refrigerators were no longer part of the Energy Star program. At that time, we reported that owners of affected models would receive a free modification of the refrigerator to boost its energy efficiency and money from LG to cover the difference between expected and actual operating costs.
A year later,
LG filed a complaint claiming that the Energy Department has taken unilateral measures against the manufacturer and that the agency should pursue an industry-wide approach to new testing standards for refrigerators., but in January, the
U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., upheld the Energy Department's decision to remove the Energy Star from 10 LG models (LFX21975ST, LFX25975SB, LFX25975ST, LFX25975SW, LFX28977SB, LFX28977ST, LFX28977SW, LMX25985SB, LMX25985ST, LMX25985SW) and 10 LG-made Kenmore models (79732, 79733, 79737, 79752, 79753, 79754, 79757, 79782, 79783, 79789).
Energy-use discrepancies for fridges aren't limited to LG, as you can read in our May 2010 report on refrigerators, which will be on ConsumerReports.org and newsstands in early April.
—Daniel DiClerico and Steven H. Saltzman Essential information: If you're in the market for a new refrigerator, take advantage of a
cash for appliances rebate.
