European consumers being misled over energy saving claims

One in five energy-using products across Europe do not match their energy efficiency claims, according to the Energy Saving Trust.

European Commission-funded research reveals that up to 20% of electrical products are non-compliant with energy efficiency standards, such as energy labelling. And according to estimates, this is leading to around 10% of the potential energy savings stated being lost by millions of products across Europe, including ovens, fridges, washing machines, dishwashers, televisions and computers.

As a result, the Energy Saving Trust will now be independently purchasing and testing energy-using products across Europe to verify the energy saving claims made by manufacturers.

The three year programme will carry out over 300 inspections in shops and 300 in online stores, checking a total of 25,000 products to see if they are properly labelled. To verify the true energy efficiency of products, 100 partial lab tests will be carried out, followed by 20 independent lab tests.

Philip Sellwood, chief executive at the Energy Saving Trust, said: "Consumers are wising up to the monetary savings of using the best and most efficient products - they're trying to do the right thing but need to be rewarded properly through the savings stated being realised.”

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