Why is there a special ENERGY STAR® label found on heating and cooling equipment?
How can buying products which have this Special ENERGY STAR® label help the customer save energy cost?
How does using products tagged with a Special ENERGY STAR® label help the environment?
ENERGY STAR® is a U.S. government-sponsored program that guides businesses and homeowners toward purchases that save energy and help the environment.
For the past ten years or so, governments have pledged to somehow reverse. . . or at least diminish. . . the damaging effect of gas emissions on the ozone layer.
As a result, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had two goals in mind:
- Diminish the damaging effect of gas emissions on the ozone layer by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and other pollutants caused by the inefficient use of energy, and
- Help people recognize at a glance which products were most energy efficient but still provided top service.
The best way to accomplish their goals was
- Have the manufacturers come up with products that would be manufactured in such a way that it would render the same or better performance, features, and comfort but use less energy to do so, and . . .
- Provide a special labeling which manufacturers could put on their products to better differentiate these new high-efficiency products which could help both the customer and the environment.
Thus the special ENERGY STAR® label was born.
The EPA then introduced the following guidelines for the manufacturing of such high-efficiency products.
The manufacturer who wishes to use the Energy Star labeling must have a product that . . .
- Contributes significant energy savings worldwide and thus helps the environment by reducing damage to the ozone layer,
- Satisfies the customer by giving them the same or even better performance, features, and comfort and at the same time reduce the amount of energy needed to do so,
- Provides a way to measure and verify with testing the energy consumption and performance of the product,
- Achieves this energy efficiency by using well known non-proprietary technologies that any manufacturer can use,
- Makes it possible for purchasers to recover their investment in increased energy efficiency through utility bill savings within a reasonable period of time especially if the qualified product costs more than a conventional, less-efficient counterpart,
If manufacturers did as asked, the EPA would then allow the high-efficiency product to have a special ENERGY STAR® labeling that would be easily spotted by the purchasers and that would effectively differentiate products that have followed the above guidelines.
Thus the Special ENERGY STAR® labeling was put into effect.
The best part about choosing ENERGY STAR® qualified heating and cooling products is that you not only know you’re making a smart decision that can significantly reduce your monthly utility costs but by doing so can make you eligible for tax credits or rebates.
