Understanding and Using ENERGUIDE Labels.

Once you have bought an appliance, you'll continue to pay every time you use it, and in busy houses with mountains of laundry and piles of dirty dishes, energy costs can really add up. That’s why, in addition to comparing price tags, you should also compare ENERGUIDE ratings of appliances to find the best energy‑saving deals.

The ENERGUIDE label reports annual energy consumption figures in kilowatt-hours (kWh/yr) for electric appliances, so you can calculate how much you will pay to run an appliance once you plug it in.

How to Read the EnerGuide label

The large number is the appliance’s estimated annual energy consumption, measured in kiloWatt hours (kWh) per year.

The shaded bar scale displays the energy consumption range for similar appliance models. The figure at the left end indicates the lowest consumption rating; the figure on the right indicates the highest.

The arrow just above the bar scale shows where the appliance ranks relative to similar models.

The symbol on the bottom of the label notes that this model qualifies for the ENERGY STAR status.  Energy Star is an international standard for energy efficient consumer products. The ENERGY STAR symbol only appears on the ENERGUIDE labels of appliances that achieve premium levels of energy efficiency.

ENERGY STAR symbol only appears on the EnerGuide labels of appliances that achieve premium levels of energy efficiency.

All appliances have an ENERGUIDE.  Only SOME appliances qualify for ENERGY STAR.

Energy Star is an international standard for energy efficient consumer products. For more information visit Natural Resources Canada.

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To calculate the annual cost to run the sample appliance if it was running consistently through the day every day you could use the following:

Average cost weighted to hours at each peak period is 14.4 cents x 416 = $60.02

If you must consider when you would plan to use it:

WHEN	FORMULA	COST
Off Peak	KWh/year  X $ 0.13	$54.08
Mid Peak	KWh/year  X $ 0.16	$66.56
On Peak	KWh/year  X $ 0.18	$74.88

(January 2012 “all in” estimates)

Once an appliance is in your home, consider borrowing a Line Logger to see what it is really using over a period of time.

 

This page last updated 2012-02-06.