Air conditioners provide a space conditioning (cooling only or heating and cooling) service to improve the thermal comfort of an indoor space, such as, a room or an entire home.
The dashboards presented below use data from the Equipment Energy Efficiency (E3) program which is a cross jurisdictional program through which the Australian Government, states and territories and the New Zealand Government collaborate to deliver a single, integrated program on energy efficiency standards and energy labelling for equipment and appliances.
Residential air conditioners (also referred to as heat pumps particularly in New Zealand), were first required to carry an energy label in 1987 and have been subject to Minimum Energy Performance Standards (MEPS) since 2004.
Larger three phase air conditioners (that are normally used in non-residential situations) have been regulated for MEPS since 2001 and have a voluntary labelling scheme.
Energy rating labels for air conditioners
Energy Efficiency Star Rating
The star rating is about energy efficiency – that is how efficient a model is relative to other models of the same size.
More stars means more efficient – when compared to other models of the same size.
Most products are given between 1 and 6 stars. However technology keeps getting better… as does energy efficiency! This is why nowadays you’ll see some super-efficient models in shops and online with an extra row for stars, as they can have up to 10.
The dashboard below shows the cooling and heating energy efficiency rating distribution for all units currently available in Australia.
Capacity Output
The capacity output for both cooling and heating is shown on the energy rating label. For cooling the capacity output is the total cooling output of the unit in kW at 35°C working at full load (flat out) and appears as “Capacity Output kW” on the Cooling Energy Rating Label. For heating the capacity output is the total heating output of the unit in kW at 7°C working at full load (flat out) and appears as “Capacity Output kW” on the Heating Energy Rating Label.
The dashboard below shows the distribution of cooling and heating capacity outputs for all units currently available in Australia.
