Equipment Energy Efficiency Program Newsletter No.9 Spring 2013
Welcome to the ninth edition of the Efficiency Standard, an online newsletter with the latest news about energy efficient appliances and equipment from Australia and New Zealand's Equipment Energy Efficiency Program (E3 Program). We welcome contributions from suppliers, regulators and anyone else with an interest in this area. Please send your articles or suggestions to david.pearson@ret.gov.au
Labelling News
The Energy Rating Label, or “star label” as it is sometimes called, is a friend to consumers that helps people calculate running costs and make an informed decision about buying an energy efficient appliance.
The aim of the Energy Rating Labelling Program is to:
Encourage consumers to select the appliance that uses the least energy and meets their energy service needs.
Enable consumers to understand the approximate running cost of an appliance before buying it and minimise the total life cycle cost of the appliance.
Provide incentives for manufacturers and importers to improve the energy efficiency of the products they supply to the market.
Found on some 7 million appliances sold each year, research has found that the label is well recognised and trusted by the public, but not everyone knows how to use its information. Many consumers do not know how much they are paying for electricity and so find it difficult to make the link between star ratings, kilowatts and the running costs of an appliance.
The Energy Rating Label was originally designed for consumers as a two dimensional sticker; to be displayed on the appliance in a showroom or on the shop floor. The rise in popularity of on-line retailing however has changed the way consumers’ research products before deciding how and where to buy – many consumers no longer get to see the physical label in-store.
In response to these consumer trends and other developments in labelling, the Equipment Energy Efficiency Program has embarked on a wide-ranging review of the label in Australia and New Zealand.
The review in Australia and New Zealand coincides with a number of other projects currently occurring across the World including a review of the European Union Energy Rating Label and Ecodesign Directives and the on-going efforts of the ENERGY STAR Program.
Greenhouse and Energy Minimum Standards legislation – 12 months on
Australia's Greenhouse and Energy Minimum Standards (GEMS) legislation has now been in effect for over 12 months. This single piece of national legislation is now providing:
A national framework for the regulation of equipment energy efficiency
Business certainty through consistency across all states and territories
Strengthened monitoring, verification and enforcement activities
The foundation for expanding energy efficiency regulations into new product areas.
The biggest change for Australian registrants is that requirements are now set in product determinations. These individual legislative instruments set the requirements for each product class, by reference to the relevant Australia/New Zealand Standard. Plain English explanations of each determination are available via the ‘Explanatory Statement ‘ tab within each document. More detail is available on key changes to the program under GEMS Legislation.
There are now 22 regulated products with the introduction of regulations for computers and computer monitors from 1 October 2013. Details of the requirements for these and other regulated products can be accessed on the legal instruments page of the Energy Rating website. There are also a range of fact sheets, frequently asked questions and other information available at www.energyrating.gov.au
Product registration applications must be made online through the Energy Rating registration site.
The next air conditioner consultation Regulation Impact Statement will investigate regulation options for adoption from 2015, including:
Regulating portable air conditioners
Moving to a seasonal performance (Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio) testing and rating regime based on three climate zones
Energy Rating Labels based on seasonal performance results
Revised Minimum Energy Performance Standards and scope for chillers and close control cooling equipment.
A replacement Greenhouse and Energy Minimum Standards Determination for air conditioners was released last August. Its notable changes include regulation of multi-split systems from 1 April 2014 and an end to transitional arrangement for the old ducted and non-ducted test standards. See the fact sheet on www.energyrating.gov.au for more information.
Heat Pump Water Heaters
The heat pump water heater consultation Regulation Impact Statement was published and consultation was completed by September 2013. Sixteen submissions were received from a range of stakeholders including manufacturers, suppliers, plumbers, energy retailers, technical experts and consumer representatives. Overall submissions provided strong support for Minimum Energy Performance Standards and information disclosures based on physical test standards, although the individual options that were preferred differed.
The Minimum Energy Performance Standards options in the Regulation Impact Statement require alterations to the current heat pump water heater test standard. Revisions to the test standard are being prepared and are expected to be released by Standards Australia for public comment in late 2013.
Survey of Registration Compliance – Lamps
An Equipment Energy Efficiency Program survey of lamps, conducted in 60 stores in Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide in March 2013, has found that the vast majority (77%) of the 1203 lamps surveyed met their obligations under the Greenhouse and Energy Minimum Standards (GEMS) Act 2012 to be registered against the relevant GEMS determination.
The lamp types covered by the survey included Linear Fluorescent Lamps, Compact Fluorescent Lamps and five types of Incandescent Lamps. 27% of incandescent lamps surveyed and 22% of Compact Fluorescent Lamps were found to be unregistered. A smaller proportion of linear fluorescent lamps (16%) were also found to be unregistered. Despite this lower percentage the figure is still surprising since fluorescent lamps have been regulated for much longer (since 2004).
The overall results for lamps compare poorly to previous surveys of registration compliance for other types of products (whitegoods, air conditioners and televisions) which have demonstrated compliance rates between 88-99% in similar surveys.
Figure 1: Comparison of Registration Compliance from Australian Surveys
34% of all unregistered lamps appeared in NSW in stores offering less than 25 lamp models (particularly in independent supermarkets and hardware/DIY stores). Lamps displayed in larger chain stores tended to have a higher share of registered products.
27% of lamp brands surveyed were found to have all their models registered, however nearly half (48%) of the 44 different brands supplying lamps models included in the survey were found to have none of their lamps registered[1].
The number of suppliers found to be selling a high proportion of models without registration suggests that some suppliers may not be aware of their obligations. This indicates that further education/ awareness raising is warranted for this product sector.
Survey results will be provided to individual retailers surveyed and product suppliers along with information on their obligations under the Greenhouse and Energy Minimum Standards Act 2012. A detailed report on the survey is due for release in November 2013. A follow up survey focusing on the lighting sector is proposed for early 2014.
[1] 29 of the 44 surveyed brands however had fewer than 10 lamps included in the survey and this sample may be considered too small to use as the basis for general conclusions.
Solar and Heat Pump Water Heater Guides
A solar water heater guide for households has been published by Australia's Department of Industry to address an information gap for consumers on choosing, installing and maintaining solar water heaters. The guide provides a basic understanding of solar hot water heaters so a householder can be better informed when buying a solar water heater, maximise the benefits of installing this technology and avoid any potential problems following installation. Topics covered by the guide include sizing, system types, frost protection, maintenance and boosting.
There is also a heat pump water heater guide for households being produced by the Department. The audience and content of the heat pump water heater guide will be very similar to that of the solar water heater guide. It is expected that the guide will be published in the next month or two.
The solar water heater guide can be downloaded from the Department's website at www.ee.ret.gov.au
Energy rating data a winner at GovHack 2013
Energy efficiency data was a big hit with fledgling app developers at GovHack 2013. This year's event encouraged over 700 aspiring developers to compete for prizes to produce the best prototype apps using the latest data hosted on www.data.gov.au – Australia’s one stop shop for open data.
Three teams of developers focussed on the appliance data. One of the teams, Admiral Dolphin from Tasmania, took out the $1,000 prize for Best Use of Data sponsored by the Department of Finance and Deregulation.
Admiral Dolphin's winning app, Marvelous Ultimate Appliance, was a game that pitted players against each other as they competed to buy the most energy efficient air conditioners, washing machines, clothes dryers, dishwashers, fridges and TVs.
Event coordinator, Pia Waugh, said, “‘With a data hungry technically literate generation on its way through the current school system, understanding the fundamentals of how to analyse and communicate effectively with data are critical in ensuring a strong industry and indeed, a strong democracy.”
For more information about GovHack 2013 visit their site at www.govhack.org
Next issue:Summer 2013
Please send your articles* to david.pearson@ret.gov.au by December 2013 *subject to editorial approval
