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  Straits Times 30 Jun 07
'Green' labels a must for air-cons, fridges
By January, energy efficiency of these power-guzzling appliances must be stated
By Shobana Kesava

Today Online 30 Jun 07
For energy-saving aircons and refrigerators, a new mark

Channel NewsAsia 29 Jun 07
Air-conditioners, refrigerators to have energy efficiency labelling

SINGAPORE : From January 1 next year, all air-conditioners and refrigerators must have labels showing how energy efficient they are.

This means that the average consumer will know up front how much electricity they consume. Choosing a $900 air-conditioner over a $1,500 energy efficient one will make sense to consumers who are comparing price tags.

But picking the costlier one, which comes with a higher energy efficiency rate, may make better financial sense in the long run.

"We hope this labelling scheme will be able to provide customers the information they need so as to make an informed choice in terms of choosing energy efficient appliances that will help save money in the long run," said Joseph Hui Kim Sung, Director-General of Environment Protection Division at the National Environment Agency (NEA).

According to NEA, yearly savings for a highly efficient energy saving model which comes with 4 ticks on the energy label, compared to a model without ticks, can run to as high as $860.

NEA also hopes that raising awareness will shift consumer demand to high energy efficient, environmentally-friendly products. This will also encourage manufacturers to streamline their products, as each certification test for the labels will cost around US$4,000.

Sonny Chuah, GM of Air-conditioning Division at LG Electronics Singapore said: "Right now, we are offering quite a huge range of products for the local market. But we will have to be realistic, not every product has to be sold in Singapore because it doesn't make sense to be offering a full range.

"We have to justify the volume that we have to sell. Therefore, if it's a particular design you want and it's not approved, either we seek approval or don't offer the model here in Singapore."

Consumers won't have to worry about shouldering the new test costs. "Price is driven by market forces. Even if we want to throw this onto the consumer, the market prices will determine whether you can do it or not. So the reality is no, I don't think these costs we incur will be passed onto the consumer," said Chuah.

Buyers are already showing signs of appreciating environmentally-friendly appliances. For now, only refrigerators and air-conditioners, which make up as much as 66 percent of household energy consumption, will be labelled.

Consumers can refer to the NEA website for a collated list which will include more appliances in the future. - CNA /ls

Today Online 30 Jun 07
For energy-saving aircons and refrigerators, a new mark

Come January, consumers looking to buy air-conditioners and refrigerators will have another basis for comparison other than price.

All models of the two products will have to be affixed with energy efficiency labels (picture). "Consumers will be able to select energy efficient models and, hence, use less electricity, thereby reducing their utility bills," said the National Environment Agency's (NEA) director-general of Environmental Protection, Mr Joseph Hui.

"A household choosing a three-tick rather than a one-tick air-conditioner can save about $500 annually through reduced electricity consumption," he explained.

About 80 per cent of the models in the market are still unlabelled. Suppliers who fail to comply by Jan 1 can be fined up to $2,000. While the new requirement kicks in officially on Sunday, the NEA has proposed a six-month grace period.

To encourage retailers and manufacturers to support the mandatory scheme, NEA will waive the registration fee — which is less than $100 — until June 30 next year. Studies have shown air-conditioners and refrigerators typically account for half of the household electricity consumption. — Daphne Chuah

Straits Times 30 Jun 07
'Green' labels a must for air-cons, fridges
By January, energy efficiency of these power-guzzling appliances must be stated
By Shobana Kesava

FROM Jan 1, the two biggest home energy guzzlers - air-conditioners and refrigerators - must be sold with energy-efficiency labels. Consumers will thus be able to tell which ones are the more efficient models.

The 'green label' scheme was introduced on a voluntary basis in April 2002 by the National Environment Agency (NEA). However, to date, only one in five models of both types of appliances, was found to have been labelled.

The Government now wants the scheme to be made mandatory. 'It is to help consumers make better-informed choices which are environmentally friendly and to help them save money.

'Using an air-conditioner with three ticks on the label, instead of just one, can save about $500 a year through reduced energy consumption,' said NEA's director-general of environment protection, Mr Joseph Hui, yesterday.

About half to two-thirds of a household's energy bill goes to running air-conditioners and refrigerators. Of the 450 models of air-conditioners in the market today, just 99 are labelled.

Retailers noted that labelled air-conditioner models fitted with energy-efficient 'inverters', on the market since 2004, are now popular.

Mdm Lily Teo, merchandising manager at Gain City Best-Electric, said: 'We used to see 10 to 20 per cent of inverter models being sold but, this year, it has reached 30 per cent even though they cost more than ordinary models.'

At her store, an inverter model which cools up to three rooms at once, costs $1,500 to $1,900. Non-inverter models cost $900 to $1,200.

Daikin Airconditioning, which has already labelled some of its models, said the mandatory labelling is fair. But it said the costs of tests may eventually be passed on to the consumer. 'It cost us $10,000 for our last energy efficiency test,' said general manager Liu Shaw Jiun.

Between now and January, suppliers of air-conditioners and refrigerators should register their firms and models with NEA, and ensure these appliances are labelled. Failure to comply by next year will mean a penalty of up to $2,000.

Green labels are already used on air-conditioners and refrigerators in places like Australia, China, Japan and the United States. Next on the NEA's list of home energy guzzlers for the scheme: clothes dryers. skesava@sph.com.sg

What labels mean

HERE'S how to make sense of the energy-rating labels:

# 'Excellent' (four ticks); 'Very Good' (three); 'Good' (two); 'Fair' (one); and 'Low' (no ticks).

# Four ticks indicate the most efficient models while none means the least efficient models. The National Environment Agency (NEA) estimates that the most efficient refrigerators can cut about $105 a year from the utilities bill, compared to a model with no ticks.

# Buyers can estimate electricity costs by multiplying the power usage or energy consumption listed in kilowatts per hour with the electricity tariff rates (from tomorrow this is 20.52 cents per kwh).
links
Energy labels for appliances
Straits Times 22 May 07

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