The product finder: seeking out the best home appliances and reducing electricity costs

Has your refrigerator or washing machine finally given up?  After twelve years of use, is repair no longer a possibility? A new appliance might need to be selected as quickly as possible. The National Top Runner Initiative (NTRI) product finder is made for exactly this. 

The product finder assists consumers in choosing new devices and appliances that help to save energy and lower costs. It presents efficient and environmentally friendly options for household appliances, LED lamps, TV and computer monitors. Users are asked about their needs in a step-by-step process, they are then presented with an appliance or device that meets the user’s requirements but that still works efficiently.

Using a selected top runner device prevents a nasty surprise from showing up in your next electric bill. The product finder presents the most important information in a user-friendly interface, providing information about the cost of electricity throughout the operating life of the appliance, its energy rating, annual electricity consumption, and CO2 emissions. Furthermore, device-specific features such as the size of a new television screen or the capacity of a washing machine are described in detail, making it easy to compare the devices. 

The NTRI informs consumers about the purchase of energy-efficient household appliances and raises awareness about the usage of energy-saving devices and appliances. The initiative was commissioned by the Federal Office for Economic Affairs and Export Control (BAFA) and is run, under the leadership of adelphi, by a consortium of Edelman.ergo, Fraunhofer Institute for Reliability and Microintegration IZM, Wuppertal Institute and the Austrian Energy Agency.