What’s behind that Energy Star label
TEXT OF STORY
Steve Chiotakis: With Summer officially on its way… could be time to pick up a new air conditioner. Want one that uses less energy? Just look for the Energy Star label, right? For the past 16 years, the government’s certified the most efficient products under the Energy Star program. But could it be a scam? From the Marketplace Sustainability Desk, here’s Caitlan Carroll.
Caitlan Carroll: OK, no, it’s not a scam. It is, however, a program with problems.
Steven Saltzman is a deputy editor at Consumer Reports. He says the results are questionable because the Energy Star program relies on data provided by manufacturers.
Steven Saltzman: We’re not saying that they lie, but the testing procedures that they’re following allow them to report data that’s just simply not accurate.
Consumer Reports checked a few Energy Star-rated refrigerators and found the claims fell short. The manufacturers had taken measurements with ice makers turned off. That’s not typical use. Also unusual: testing a dishwasher with a clean load. But some were tested that way.
Maria Vargas: There’s nothing that indicates to us that there’s a problem or that we’re getting incorrect information from manufacturers.
Maria Vargas is from the EPA. She says her agency and the Department of Energy test best-sellers to make sure the self-certifications are accurate. They also raise standards every year, so Energy Star appliances exceed average efficiency rates. Vargas says those appliances can drop household utility bills by a third.
Meryl Akmakzian: He says the Bosch doesn’t have water softening . . .
At Absolute Appliances in Hollywood, Calif., Meryl Akmakzian cares about those savings.
Akmakzian: We don’t anything extra that takes extra space or, you know, extra energy. We just want it to be compact and usable.
Edward Telis: There should, all of them should have an energy guide.
The manager of the store, Edward Telis, is helping Akmakzian find a new dishwasher. Telis says a lot of utilities and states also offer rebates for Energy Star appliances.
Telis: There are some customers, that’s their first thing is energy. Energy efficiency or it could be, you know, that it’s green. That’s really the new hit big word.
Saltzman from Consumer Reports says as all appliances become more efficient, Energy Star standards should be raised higher and faster.
Saltzman: You’ve got to raise the bar. You’ve got to make it that much harder for companies to get there. So that, you know, people are buying what is genuinely the most efficient.
President Obama’s called on the Energy Department to do just that. And a bill supporting the same aim is moving through the Senate.
In Los Angeles, I’m Caitlan Carroll for Marketplace.
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