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Working in partnership with Youreko, our Energy Comparison Tool helps you understand the financial benefit of buying an efficient appliance. Sustainable choices are great for the environment but they also save you money in energy costs. We show you how much. Look out for the tool on laundry, dishwasher and refrigeration products.
It is easy & simple to use, watch the video to the right to lean more.
Look out for this button to activate our energy comparison tool.
How it works?
Products are loaded on our product or category pages.
The lifetime energy cost is calculated for all products.
The tool provides information about how each product compares to like-for-like products in the market.
Energy Comparison Features
The features in the tool described below will help you find the products that will save you the most money in energy costs.
Energy Savings
The tool displays an energy saving compared to the least efficient like-for-like model in the market.
For example “€254 energy saving” is shown when viewing a 8kg washing machine, compared to the least efficient 8kg washing machine in the market.
This allows you to immediately see what the difference in energy savings is for 8kg models.
Ratings for energy savings
Products are given a gold/silver/bronze medal rating based on their energy savings.
For example the tool shows “Silver for energy savings” when viewing an 8 kg tumble dryer, compared to all 8 kg tumble dryers in the market.
This allows you to see at a glance which are the best rated 8 kg tumble dryers for energy savings.
Recommendations based on energy savings
The tool makes recommendations for each product if alternatives are found that provide a clear financial benefit in energy savings.
For example, when viewing an 8kg washing machine, an alternative product is found that costs an extra €30 to buy but costs €80 less in running costs, leaving you €50 in-pocket.
The whole site is searched to find similar alternative products that may cost a little more upfront but will save you money in energy costs in the long run.
Personalise your energy savings
The tool allows you to customise your usage for each type of appliance to show the energy savings for your personal circumstances.
What do the medal ratings mean?
We place products by size into 5 bands according to their energy savings. A medal rating is given to each product based on the band it is in.
Best of the best
Most efficient product in the market with the lowest running cost in its category.
Gold
Dark green range.
Silver
Light green range.
Bronze
Yellow green range.
Good value
Red/orange range but nothing cheaper to run at that price.
The new energy
efficiency classes
From March 2021 there will be new energy labels and revised energy efficiency classes for household appliances. Here, you will find all relevant information on the subject.
Energy Comparison Tool FAQs
How often are products loaded from the market?
Products are loaded from the market daily. New products are usually added to the database in 1-2 days.
How is the lifetime energy cost calculated?
Information from official sources is used to calculate the initial average lifetime energy cost of a product that is shown.
Power consumption: This is taken directly from the product fiche published by the manufacturer.
Average usage: The average usage for different categories is taken from a report by the Energy Saving Trust.
Average lifespan The average lifespan for each category is also taken from a report by the Energy Saving Trust.
Average tariff: This is taken from data published by Eurostat.
Average annual tariff increase: Again taken from Eurostat, historic data for tariffs over the last 10+ years is reviewed to determine the average annual increase in electricity costs.
To see the actual values you can click on the help icon (?) in the tool.
What are like-for-like products?
All of the savings, ratings and comparisons are based on like-for-like products, which in general terms is the size or capacity of a product. Examples of classifications:
Dishwashers: Classified by size: compact, slimline or full size.
Freezers: Classified by type and capacity: chest 100-199 litre, chest 200-299 litre, undercounter, upright 100-199 litre, upright 200-299 litre, etc.
Fridge Freezers: Classified by type and capacity: 50/50 100-199 litre, 50/50 200-299 litre, american 500-599 litre, american 600-699 litre, etc.
Fridges: Classified by type and capacity: larder undercounter, larder 100-199 litre, larder 200-299 litre, ice-box undercounter, ice-box 100-199 litre, ice-box 200-299 litre, etc.
Tumble Dryers: Classified by capacity: 7 kg, 8 kg, 9 kg, 10 kg, etc.
Washer Dryers: Classified by wash capacity: 7 kg, 8 kg, 9 kg, 10 kg, etc.
Washing Machines: Classified by capacity: 7 kg, 8 kg, 9 kg, 10 kg, etc.
It’s essential to compare like-for-like as, for example, it does not make sense to compare the running costs of a 6 kg washer with a 10 kg washer, as the larger capacity washer is likely to use more energy.
For refrigeration, as there are no standard sizes, products are sub-categorised by type and capacity for comparison. For example, it doesn’t make sense to compare a larder fridge with a model that has an ice-box, because freezers use much more energy. Similarly it doesn’t make sense to compare a 50/50 split freezer with a 70/30 split, as the model with 50% freezer will use a lot more energy than the one with 30% freezer.
Why is the least efficient product used for comparison?
We use the least efficient product for two reasons. Firstly, the cheapest products are generally the least efficient and as many of us tend to buy cheap to save money, this represents a good benchmark for comparison.
Secondly, one of the best ways to understand how energy efficient a product is compared to others, is to see where it sits in the range for all products in the market. By comparing with the least efficient model, you can see just how wide the range of energy costs is for different products and where a particular product sits in the range.
How can I see the actual energy costs for a product?
When you open the tool for the first time you will see the range of lifetime energy savings. If you want to see the energy costs you can simply click on the ‘Show energy costs’ button.
