The crosses have disappeared.

Two years ago, anyone who wanted to buy a new refrigerator or a new washing machine that uses as little energy as possible knew: It should be two, preferably three, crosses after the letter A – and thus the best in its class.

Consumers had become accustomed to this classification.

In fact, however, it stood for an emergency solution, because the EU energy efficiency label introduced in 1995 with a color scale from green to red and the letters A to G was no longer sufficient to realistically depict the appliance market.

Petra Kirchhoff

Editor in the Rhein-Main-Zeitung.

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Because in the meantime, the devices have become more and more efficient with the result that at some point they were all in the green;

in order to create a comparability at all, plus signs were added to the A-Class.

Now there is a revised label.

Since March of last year, washing machines, refrigerators and freezers, televisions and monitors, dishwashers and now also lamps have been labeled with the new EU energy efficiency label.

color scale remains

It is true that ovens, extractor hoods and air conditioning systems are also subject to the labeling requirement;

for these product groups, the new classification, which manufacturers make themselves, comes later.

The fact that vacuum cleaners have been sold without an energy label since 2019 has to do with a legal dispute between the EU Commission and the Dyson company.

The previous plus classes no longer exist with the new energy label.

With the return to categories A to G, it should be easier to evaluate and compare products.

The classification of the color scale is retained.

The higher up in the alphabet and the greener a device is, the better it is.

However, the old efficiency classes cannot be translated one-to-one into the new ones.

The fact that devices that used to make it into the A class are now suddenly in categories C, D or worse is due to the tightening of the criteria and measurement methods that take everyday use of the devices into account better than before.

This increases the pressure on manufacturers to produce even more economical models.

With a few exceptions such as LEDs, there are currently no devices with efficiency class A on the market.

New are pictograms that better reflect the power consumption in everyday life, and also a QR code that links to a database in which manufacturers have to store technical data.

Some devices have additional information.

What is new is that noise emissions are also classified into four classes.

In the case of washing machines and dishwashers, for example, the time required for the energy-saving program is displayed.

The Stiftung Warentest emphasizes as positive that the power consumption of washing machines and dishwashers must now be specified per 100 washing and rinsing cycles and the water consumption per single cycle.

This says more than a four-digit, abstract annual consumption, as was usual on the old label, they say.

Little lifelike

But there is also criticism.

With washing machines and dishwashers, for example, only the electricity consumption for the respective savings program has to be on the label, which often takes three or four hours to complete.

If you prefer programs with shorter runtimes, you have to reckon with a higher energy consumption.

Consumer advocates also criticize the fact that the refrigerator volume is now always given without drawers and shelves as not being realistic.

The true costs of a device only become apparent in everyday life anyway.

If you open the fridge ten times when cooking instead of once to get ingredients out, you waste energy.

The same applies to those who choose a short program when washing because higher temperatures and more water are needed.

Level and hygiene also play a role.

A full refrigerator is better than an empty one, one with clean walls is better than one with ice.

It is also counterproductive if new efficient devices are used more frequently.

And, of course, every energy balance is shattered when a new economical refrigerator is bought and the old one continues to whirr as a second appliance in the basement.

Info: The consumer advice center in Hesse will set up information stands in many places over the next few weeks, where energy experts will give practical tips.

The Frankfurt consultants will start on September 1 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Konstablerwache.