DOE Means Business: Energy Star Label Stripped From Fridges
by Jennifer Berry
Published on January 6th, 2010
5 Comments
In an effort to further regulate the use of and compliance with the Department of Energy’s signature ENERGY STAR certification program, the DOE is stepping up enforcement of the standards required to bear the blue-star label.
Effective this week, certain LG refrigerators are banned from using the label, after multiple independent labs confirmed that particular French-door models did not qualify for the ENERGY STAR program.
Some ENERGY STAR-certified models of appliances can save you more than half on your annual electricity costs to run them. Photo: Flickr/Wonderlane
Calling the label a “critical tool” for consumers that purchase these appliances with the intent of saving money and electricity, DOE General Counsel Scott Blake Harris said the removal was necessary to “protect the American public.”
And the American public’s desire for these appliances may grow as energy efficient appliance rebate programs kick off this year. Every state has a program starting in 2010, with millions of dollars allocated to support the initiatives.
Although ENERGY STAR is a voluntary program, manufacturers participating in its efforts have skyrocketed since its inception. In 2008, Americans purchased almost 550 million ENERGY STAR-qualified products. Since the start of the program in 2000, more than 2.5 billion products have been sold across 60 product categories.
The ENERGY STAR label informs consumers of the most energy efficient products in a particular product category. According to the DOE, ensuring that the labels are applied only to products that deliver on the promised energy and cost savings creates “an even playing field in the marketplace and reduces pollution.”
- U.S. DOE and U.S. EPA "ENERGY STAR and Other Climated Protection Partnerships: 2008 Annual Report" http://www.energystar.gov/ia/partners/publications/pubdocs/Annual%20Report_122309_to%20EPA_Web.pdf. December 2009.
HI-FI
posted on January 6th, 2010 at 6:27 pm
Good for the DOE> Consumer Reports did a study and blew the whistle on some of the refrig. w/the Energy Star label. They(makers of the refrig.) test them without hooking up the water and ice maker which uses a considerable amount of energy and who is going to buy a fridge with this feature and not hook it up? Now, those pesky dishwashers!
RITA M.
posted on January 6th, 2010 at 8:33 pm
DO I HAVE ANY RECOURSE W/BEST BUY FOR MY SIDE BY SIDE FRIDGE;IS THAT WHAT YOU BY FRENCH DOORS?, I BOUGHT ON ELAST YEAR CERTAINLY FOR ENERGY STAR LABEL?
StevieO
posted on January 7th, 2010 at 6:32 pm
One thing I can say for sure is there are some awfully pretty girls writing articles for this site!
Rachel White
posted on January 7th, 2010 at 7:35 pm
Speaking of Consumer Reports: people in the market for new appliances may want to visit http://www.greenerchoices.org, which is a Consumer Reports website. Their green product ratings provide consumers with a more complete picture of energy performance (based on independent testing) than the Energy Star label alone does.
Saving More With An Energy Star Rated Refrigerator « Home Repair – Maintaining and Remodeling Your House
posted on March 4th, 2010 at 9:52 pm
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