EnerGuide Program
The EnerGuide Program for Major Electrical Household Appliances
EnerGuide is a Government of Canada program designed to help you, the
consumer, purchase the most energy-efficient household appliances on the
market. Administered by the Office of Energy Efficiency at Natural
Resources Canada, the EnerGuide program has two goals:
• To protect the environment by reducing the demand for energy in Canada
and the greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change; and
• To help consumers spend less money on energy.
The most visible component of the EnerGuide Program is the EnerGuide
Label you see on most major electrical household appliances.
READING THE ENERGUIDE LABEL IS EASY!
You're probably already familiar with the EnerGuide Label which, by law,
must be affixed to each new electrical appliance manufactured or
imported into Canada. Always check the EnerGuide Label when shopping for
a new appliance - it helps you find the model that uses the least amount
of electricity.
The two most important elements on the EnerGuide Label are:
• The large number showing the amount of electricity in kilowatt-hours
(kWh) that a model of appliance is expected to use in one full year
(A); and
• An arrow just above the shaded bar scale that shows where that model
of appliance ranks in comparison to appliances of a similar size and
type (B).
The shaded bar scale only shows the energy consumption of appliances of
a similar size and type available on the market in Canada. You may wish
to compare the kWh per year number of different sizes and types of
appliances when shopping for a new one. An arrow on the far left of the
bar scale indicates the most energy-efficient model in its class.
The EnerGuide Label doesn't mean that an appliance consumes less energy,
but it does mean that an appliance has been tested and has passed the
minimum energy-efficiency standards set by the Government of Canada.
The EnerGuide Label can however help you find an appliance that uses
less electricity because it lets you compare the amount of energy one
model of appliance uses over another and how that model "measures up" to
the most energy-efficient model available in Canada.
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CONSIDER THE SECOND PRICE TAG
Everyone is familiar with an appliance's first price tag - it's the
price of the appliance. The "second price tag" refers to the ongoing
cost of electricity to operate the appliance. This continuous cost is
something you should consider when making your purchase decision.
Calculating the second price tag is easy. By simply multiplying an
appliance's annual energy consumption (the large number on the EnerGuide
Label) by the local cost of electricity, which is shown on your electric
bill, you can very quickly estimate how much it will cost to operate the
appliance for one year.
HERE'S HOW:
EnerGuide Rating (kWh/year) x Local Electricity Costs ($/kWh) =
Yearly Energy Cost
To calculate how much you will spend to operate the appliance over its
estimated lifespan, multiply that number by the average life of the
appliance (see table below).
HERE'S HOW:
Yearly Energy Cost ($/year) x Appliance Life (years) = Lifetime
Energy Cost
Product Life Expectancy*
Washers - 14 years
Dryers - 18 years
Dishwashers - 13 years
Freezers - 21 years
Refrigerators - 17 years
Ranges - 18 years
* Life expectancy statistics taken from EnerGuide Appliance Directory
2002
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