ENERGY STAR®
ENERGY STAR is the independent, international benchmark for energy efficiency. It is awarded to the top 25% most energy efficient appliances, home entertainment products and office equipment in each category.
The blue ENERGY STAR mark makes it easy to choose the most energy-efficient appliances. It tells you at a glance which models are the very best.
ENERGY STAR products still perform well but use less electricity to do so. Instead, they use the latest technology to get the job done much more efficiently.
In this section you can learn more about:
Why choose ENERGY STAR?
ENERGY STAR makes it easy for you to make the best choices whenever you're buying new appliances and home entertainment products.
New Zealand homes and businesses depend on electricity to function. The choice is not about whether you use electricity, it's about how much you use.
Add up the number of appliances you use in your home or office, including fridges, dishwashers, stereo, multiple televisions, computers and printers. It isn't hard to see how, on average, there are likely to be at least 15 different appliances using electricity.
Savings
By buying energy efficient appliances and using them sensibly, you can reduce the amount of electricity you need and get more from each unit you do use. This saves you money on your electricity bills and reduces your impact on the environment.
As appliances wear out, it makes good economic and environmental sense to consider choosing energy efficient replacements. For example:
- Replacing your old dishwasher with an ENERGY STAR qualified model could see you using half as much electricity, or
- Switching to an ENERGY STAR qualified washing machine could save you $100 and 35,000 litres of water a year.
That's your pay-off on the household budget, but for New Zealand the savings are far greater. If every household changed their washing machine to an ENERGY STAR qualified model, that would prevent the emission of 185,000 tonnes of CO2 from electricity generation.
Better business sense
When it comes to business equipment, imaging products such as copiers, printers, scanners and fax machines that have earned the ENERGY STAR mark can save you around 30% on electricity running costs.
These products are very energy-intensive because they are left on for long periods of time - in some cases, 24 hours a day. That's why ENERGY STAR qualified imaging equipment has active features to minimise energy consumption, both when it's working and not in use.
Setting the standard
ENERGY STAR qualified products must meet ENERGY STAR product specifications for energy efficiency, which are set internationally and in New Zealand. From time to time, these are revised and upgraded to ensure the specifications remain up-to-date with advances in technology.
Each product category has a distinct ENERGY STAR specification. For example, for whiteware both standby and operational power are part of the specification, whereas for audio equipment and DVD players, only standby power use is currently measured.
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