Buying a New Appliance

Choose an appliance based on its purchase price but also its "second price tag"– the cost of the energy needed to run the appliance over its lifetime. Read the EnerGuide label that is now required by law on every major appliance.

Using EnerGuide

The EnerGuide label tells you quickly how the appliance you're considering compares with other makes and models.

1. The annual energy consumption of the appliance in kilowatt hours. The lower the number, the better.
   
   
2. The energy consumption indicator shows you how this model compares to others in its class. The bar below the indicator gives the energy efficiency range for this class of appliance. The further the indicator is to the left end of the scale, the better.
   
   
3. This bar shows you the energy consumption of the most and least efficient appliances in this class. In this case, the most efficient comparable model consumes 564 kWh per year while the least efficient uses 972 kWh per year.
   
   
4. This tells you the type and capacity range of similar models compared.