In India all power hungry appliances especially Air Conditioners and Refrigerators are star rated based on their power consumption. The more stars it has, the lesser will be the power consumption. So if we go for a five star rated appliance the consumption of electricity will be at the optimum level. I think this is a very practical method to save on electricity bills. It is very much beneficial for Air Conditioners and Refrigerators as they consume a lot of electricity. Nowadays almost all electronic appliances have star rating with it. Do you buy electronic appliances based on star ratings? Is the same system prevails in other parts of the world too?
I always look for appliances that saves electricity. For instance, I will always buy LED or CFL bulbs instead of other regular bulbs to save electricity. However, because of heavy price sometimes I cannot buy an appliance that uses electricity saving technology. For example, last time I was in a store to buy a fridge , I avoided buying electricity efficient fridge because it was priced 30 percent more than the regular fridge and I did not have budget for electricity efficient fridge .
The energy star or energy efficiency factor had also been a big consideration when I bought my last refrigerator.. Higher EEF rating means that the refrigerator uses power efficiently resulting in savings throughout its useful life. However, I am also particular with the brand. I noticed, for example, that a locally made brand had the highest EEF for the size I was looking for. Having read about reviews against this brand in some forums, I naturally avoided buying the brand and opted for a more reliable brand with a lower EEF.
In my country, there is a great awareness of the importance of energy saving devices. If I am to purchase gadgets or appliances, I would shop around to find the best value energy saving units. For example, led and inverter technology for refrigerators, inverter technology for air conditioners, and led technology for lighting.
