New energy label may be a useless decoration
The new EU energy label is not a miracle worker. If appliances are not used efficiently or energy costs continue to soar, the extra cost of new equipment may never be recovered.
The new scale for household appliances changes from the current A +, A ++ or A +++ to a simpler one between A and G. But the sticker that new fridges, freezers, dishwashers, washing machines and televisions will carry will not miraculously reduce the monthly expenditure of an average Spanish family. The change has to be accompanied by a better understanding of appliance usage and energy prices.
The new scale is designed so that very few products will achieve an "A" rating from the outset and leaves room for more efficient products to be included in the future. The most energy-efficient appliances currently on the market will now be labelled in the new "B", "C" or "D" ranges.
The new sticker comes at a difficult time for Spain's energy health. The PSOE-Podemos government has not been able to keep its promises to regulate the price of energy and this was reflected in the electricity bill during the Filomena storm. The price went up by 27% due to the collapse of electricity generation through renewable energies. The absence of sun and wind forced the electricity system to draw on its reserves of gas and coal, causing prices to rise.
Jesús Urbieta is an industrial engineer, lawyer and founder of the company Soliluz. For the last five years, they have been advising families, SMEs and neighbourhood communities on how to save on their electricity and gas bills. They advise with the fever that is going to be unleashed with solar panels and the one we have underway with electric cars. They make their clients see that the real savings are in the bill and in the price per kw/h paid. He has a very clear premise: "The kWh not consumed is the most sustainable and profitable". Regarding the new sticker, he says that "we will know how efficient what we buy is. However, as well as being sustainable, the investment must also be profitable, and this is where the cost of energy comes into play. What good is an 'A' sticker if the price of the energy we pay is sky-high?
The design of the new energy label will be different. It will have clearer, more modern icons and will provide additional data with the QR code. In the case of a washing machine, it will show at a glance the number of litres of water per cycle, the duration of a cycle and the energy consumption measured for a standardised programme. But we need to know what we buy and how to use it so that we do not fall into routines that lead to waste. According to Urbieta, "the new energy label is one of the key points when choosing a device, but it is just as important to use the machine efficiently". Basic tips for which it is not necessary to look at the label, it is necessary to take a look at the instruction booklet and know the market, "it is not necessary to have the fridge below 4ºC or -19ºC in the freezer, because it is not necessary to cool it that much. The fan-forced convection oven function is more efficient to use". These are a few tips to improve what we already have or to further adjust future "A" labelled appliances.
The three pillars of sustainable energy: energy label, energy price and equipment management. Stickers, advertising, salesmen eager to take a commission... The buyer is in a jungle when he wants to buy a TV or a washing machine. Too much superficial information and too much ignorance about real savings. Logical. We have been hearing for years how they are going to simplify the electricity bill and the monthly hieroglyphic is still in our mailboxes without anyone remedying it. Jesús Urbieta launched Soliluz with the slogan "Join the change". Change to improve, to be sustainable, to adjust consumption. But he is realistic when he states that "sometimes, your economy does not need the best energy label, because it is possible that the extra cost of achieving maximum efficiency will never be recovered in the life of the equipment".
From now on manufacturers or importers will be obliged to make available to professional repairers a range of essential parts (motors and motor brushes, pumps, shock absorbers and springs, wash drums...) for 7 to 10 years after the last unit of a model has been placed on the EU market. This forces to improve the useful life of the products and avoids the programmed obsolescence that generates so much technological waste.
Nowadays you have to manage many variables when buying a household appliance. But it is worth knowing the whole picture and not getting carried away by colours and promises that may never be fulfilled. To think green, you first have to learn to think.
