John Lewis puts lifetime electricity cost on product labels

[Michael Browne]

John Lewis is to trial a new product-labelling scheme that, for the first time, will give consumers the lifetime electricity running costs on the most popular household 'white goods' such as washing machines, washer dryers and tumble dryers.

 

Backed by the Department of Energy and Climate Change, it is intended to enable people to better understand how energy efficient products can bring real savings to household bills. By choosing a more energy-efficient washer dryer when replacing an old appliance, for example, it is claimed that consumers could save over £500 on its lifetime energy costs.

 

The six month pilot involves displaying the average lifetime electricity running costs in a number of John Lewis product categories. The aim is to test the effect of putting the lifetime running costs of appliances on product labels – as opposed to just how many kilowatt hours of energy they use per year, information that will still remain. It is hoped that the labels will lead to an increase in the number of energy efficiency products being sold.

 

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/sep/09/john-lewis-product-label-scheme-energy-efficiency#