While important, ratings for energy and water use rarely tell the whole story on appliance efficiency. Read our investigation below that shows how manufacturers could be gaming the system:
It is interesting that there is a correlation between operating performance and amount of water/energy used. Maybe the star rating should also consider performance as well. There is no point buying a 5 star machine if it washes poorly and one needs to either put less in the machine (meaning more water and energy per kilo of washing) or wash again…thus negating the 5 star benefit.
Maybe an environmental score could also be considered which factors things like recycled content, recyclability of the machine, ability to repair etc.
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It would be more meaningful if they set a fixed standard time as well, then it would be a more objective measure.
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