Early results show a significant number of qualified products might not meet specifications Seventeen percent of appliances tested so far might use too much energy to qualify for the Energy Stars they currently carry, according to Richard Karney, team leader for the Department of Energy's appliance testing and verification program. He presented the findings in
a recent webinar. These models, tested over 5 percent worse than their Energy Star specification. Twenty-nine percent of room air conditioners fell into this category, as did 16 percent of refrigerators, and 4 percent of residential clothes washers.
In addition, 18 percent of washers used more water than they should. These results are based on the testing—performed by third-party independent labs—of one sample of several different basic models for each product category. Most of the products were randomly selected for testing and they were bought from retailers. The DOE will be contacting the manufacturers and if they don't request additional testing of their models, the companies will face government action.
In March, the
Department of Energy announced that it had started testing Energy Star qualified appliances to confirm that they performed to Energy Star specifications. This pilot program was partially due to a scathing report by the
Government Accountability Office criticizing the Energy Star program. "
Energy Star has lost some luster," our 2008 investigation, covered Energy Star-qualified refrigerators that used significantly more electricity in our energy-use tests than what was stated by the manufacturers. (We used comparative energy tests, which we felt were tougher than those mandated by the federal government.)
A year later, we reported that the
Haier HUF138EA freezer used 70 percent more energy than stated on its EnergyGuide label, consumption that we believed exceeded the federal government's allowable energy use and would preclude it from qualifying for Energy Star. And we have
continued to find products that use between 33 and 50 percent more energy in our tests than the numbers on their labels.
The DOE's pilot verification testing program includes clothes washers, dishwashers, freezers, refrigerators, room air conditioners, storage water heaters, and tankless water heaters. So far 110 models have gone through initial energy testing. The agency plans to test an additional 157 models and expand testing to other Energy Star products under long-term programs. According to Karney, the goals of the program include maintaining the integrity of the Energy Star program and consumer trust; ensuring consumers and the nation achieve expected energy and water savings; and establishing the foundation for a future extended verification program.
—Celia Kuperszmid Lehrman
