So what is the point of the rating if we can't compare machines of different sizes?
There would be no point if that was the intention. However, if you look at descriptions of the rating system (e.g.
click here ), you will see that the ratings are intended to give an indication of how energy-efficient an appliance is
for its size.
I'm not sure it's all that unreasonable, since people generally choose the size of fridge or freezer in terms of how much fridge or freezer space they require, not the running costs - and they hopefully already understand that smaller fridge is likely to use less power than a bigger one! ...essentially 'common sense' again.
Kind Regards, John
I followed link to web site. 265 litres A+ = £48 and 262 litres A++ = £52 to run for a year so it would seem A+ is better than A++ but then it says reverse so just like me it finds energy labels rather useless.
There clearly must be some point where it jumps to the next class and likely it states something like for 20 to 50 litres to be classed as A+ it must use less then 250 kWh per year and so there could be 2.5 times the power per litre but still have the same rating. If with the two examples I measured on was on lower edge of band and other on upper edge then the 4.4 times difference is understandable.
However with such a huge variation it makes the whole rating system rather a farce and it would be better not to have any rating than have one which is so farcical.
Years ago when I looked for a fridge/freezer I could buy a 40/60, 50/50 or 60/40 but today as a result of the rating system getting a freezer larger than the fridge is impossible. As a result myself, my mother, and my daughter all have fridge/freezer plus a freezer with much of the fridge empty.
Buying a small freezer which is frost free is near impossible the small end of the market seems to be Beko or Beko no one else makes a small frost free freezer. So for a second freezer to select one of the better makes one is looking at least 200 litres.
If one could have been a fly on the wall when me and my wife selected the last freezer you would have laughed as it was rather heated. She dug in heals and believe me they are sharp and said must be frost free. Which in turn mean Beko or a much larger and more expensive freezer.
In the end she found a Samsung RZ80FDMH freezer at knock down price of £330 far more than I wanted to pay for a second freezer. To preserve the marriage I had to buy it. OK a good deal A+ rating and cost per year would depend on interest rate but around the £80 mark which is not that bad.
But the A+ rating did not really help. Before buying freezer I had bought a fridge/freezer which claimed A++ which I thought was good. But it would seem it was the 60% fridge and 40% freezer which allowed the RL60EZIH to gain the A++ rating had the split been 40/60 it would have struggled to get a A rating.
To me this is not only cheating but also stopping the UK shopper buying what they really want so by forcing the A+ rating they have forced the UK house hold to buy both a fridge/freezer and a freezer where if the rules were not implemented a single fridge/freezer would have done the job.
So cutting to the chase the ratting system means we buy more appliances which clearly does not help ecology one bit.
So stating 200 kWh per annum was enough this A, A+, A++ or A+++ is a complete waist to money time and environment.
