Many electrical products sold in Europe have a colour-coded energy
rating system, from A to G. A is the most energy efficient and G the
least. It’s as simple as that. The label has been copied all over the
world. It has worked so well in promoting energy efficient products
that most products sold in Europe have an A or a B rating. So, if you
buy a product rated B you may think it’s still pretty good, when in
reality it’s the most inefficient!
We now need to upgrade the label and make sure A
and B only really include the best products. But some companies who
manufacture these products do not want this upgrade (See Guardian blog)
Is it perhaps that they don’t want us, consumers, to know their
products are not as efficient as we think? That’s not what they claim.
Of course, they claim if we don’t accept their labels, then millions of
jobs will be lost. With this argument, they have heavily lobbied the
European Commission and Member States to change to a different,
incredibly confusing label, including both letters and numbers.
Now governments in Germany, Italy, Spain, Poland and other Eastern
European countries are supporting this very questionable proposal,
which goes against our interests as consumers and as citizens concerned
about energy bills and climate change. If they win, we will lose one of
the most successful tools in the world to reduce energy demand and
people’s electricity bills.