Tighter Energy Star Standards for Clothes Washers

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has set tougher standards for clothes washers to qualify for the Energy Star^® label, beginning January 1, 2007. The new standards increase the modified energy factor (MEF), the capacity of the clothes container divided by the total energy consumption per cycle, from 1.42 to 1.72 ft³/kWh per cycle. The new standards also introduce a water factor (WF), defined as gallons of water used per cycle divided by the cubic feet of washer capacity, and cap it at 8.0. (The current criteria for clothes washers to be listed in

GreenSpec^® are more stringent, requiring a minimum MEF of 1.8 and a maximum WF of 5.5.) More information about Energy Star is online at www.energystar.gov.