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Archive for May, 2010

energy rating

Nicor Gas Launches New Energy Efficiency Program MarketWatch (press release) "Another positive aspect of this new program is that when customers purchase qualifying energy saving equipment, their homes or businesses can become more ... and more »

energy conservation

energy rating

The Energy Star logo on products is a very well known and advertised indicator that those products will offer 10% - 35% energy savings over their non-rated competition. However, a recent news report on MSNBC's Today Show as reported by Lisa Myers has cited that the federal government's accountability office (GAO) had conducted its own independent investigation which reported that a great many products and companies which had received approval by the energy star program did not in fact offer efficiencies that fit the energy star programs criteria in order to be accepted into that program. One such product that this story cited as having received an energy star approval rating was a "Gasoline Powered Alarm Clock" which of course was a fabricated product type submitted for approval by the GAO but the fact that it was given an approval rating shows that energy star has much work to do in refining their approval rating criteria.

This does not in any way mean that a great many products that have already received energy star program approval ratings are not energy efficient, but until the program increases its own requirements for independent testing it does mean that consumers should request proof of the energy savings they can expect to receive from their manufacturers. While this news story also indicated that 70% of the products which carry the energy star logo were manufactured by General Electric, who also happens to be the parent company of MSNBC, they did not see fit to mention the names of any other companies which also have received an energy star approval rating on their products which made this story seem like more of an advertisement for GE than anything else.

The fact of the matter here is that when it comes right down to what products are or are not energy efficient the buyer should always do their homework and never make their purchases based on what anyone has to say about it from a marketing perspective. There are thousands of products made by companies from all over the world that have just as good or better energy efficiency ratings. Some people will only purchase German made products because they believe their quality standards are far higher than the same products quality standards coming from a US manufacture. Ultimately this all comes down to peoples biased opinions while lending them to one perspective or another on any given product line. Sure it would be great if there were an all knowing "source" that we could refer to when trying to determine which product will give us the biggest bang for our buck but as all of this boils down to marketing strategies used by various companies the best advice anyone can give you is this. The buyer should always beware of false claims and the only assurance that any buyer can attain is that which only comes from being an informed consumer.

In many cases the best advertising (word-of-mouth) also can be used for your most accurate sounding board when trying to determine whether product "A" or "B" is best for your particular needs. So check to see whether the product you are considering does in fact have a great number of testimonials that speak highly of other peoples comfort level and satisfaction with a given product. Case specific information which relates to a given testimonial is also a great source of what you too can expect to gain by using that product. Another great resource that often times goes over looked comes by checking with your states energy department web sites as they often times will be offering incentives for say the purchase and installation of a given hot water heater as an example.

Does any given energy star rating suggest that this product or that is the only viable solution to your particular needs? Certainly not! The fact of the matter is that despite the energy star programs best efforts and given the facts revealed in this latest story involving them even they cannot accurately gauge every product currently being manufactured unless of course you honestly believe that a "gasoline powered alarm clock" even exists let alone was approved and shown to being energy efficient in a laboratory testing environment.

There currently is no mandate in existence that requires all global manufactures to have their products independently tested for energy efficiency criteria although the energy star program is working towards refining theirs. However, the next best thing would be to at the very least ensure that any electrical product you intend on purchasing carries both a UL and CEC listing as these are easily researched and have undergone significant and stringent testing to obtain such listings. UL and CEC listings also provide you with laboratory prove electrical values of that given product with which you can use to comparison shop against other name brands to ensure that the cost savings you are expecting are really what your dollars are buying.

energy bulbs