All About the EnergyGuide Label

Are you thinking about retiring your old A/C for good and upgrading to new higher efficiency model? Or you could take advantage of off-season offers and upgrade the furnace. This is all smart thinking considering modern high-efficiency A/Cs and furnaces deliver 20 percent or greater efficiency than systems produced a decade or more ago. Make sure you do your homework first to determine which replacement model is the best investment in the long run. The bright yellow EnergyGuide label can help.

EnergyGuide Label Origins

The EnergyGuide program was established in the 1970s as a consumer protection initiative promoting energy efficiency awareness. Regulated by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), it also holds manufacturers accountable regarding the efficiency and features of their products.

Judge an Appliance by Its Label

The products are required to display the EnergyGuide label for central A/Cs, furnaces, water heaters, refrigerators, various electronics and more. The information on the EnergyGuide label is easy to read, but you need to know what it is you’re looking at to make use of it.

• Features: When comparing prices of products, you’re probably interested in the product features too. For example, there’s a substantial difference between a variable-speed system and a fixed-speed model. Product features are located on the upper-left corner of the label.
• Manufacturer and model: Product details, such as the manufacturer, model number and product size, are located on the label’s upper-right corner.
• Annual energy costs: Right in the center of the label is a line graph that displays the estimated annual operating costs of the product.
• Annual energy usage: Below the line graph is the estimated annual energy usage. This information is more useful than total costs because you can use energy prices from the Northeast Ohio area, rather than the label’s national average.
• Energy Star: If an appliance or HVAC system is Energy Star certified, you’ll see the Energy Star logo printed on the bottom-right corner.

For more tips about using the EnergyGuide label, or for professional help crunching the numbers, contact Stack Heating & Cooling today.

Our goal is to help educate our customers in Cleveland, Ohio about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about EnergyGuide labels and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.

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