Whitegoods Efficiency Trends in Australia 1993 to 2017 Lloyd Harrington, Energy Efficient Strategies
Background to the Study The Energy labelling started in Australia in 1986 MEPS was initially introduced in 1999 Governments have routinely purchased appliance sales data from GfK since mid-1990s This typically covered 70% to 95% of all appliance sales Data covers years 1993 to 2014 22 years of data (refrigerators and freezers to 2017 25 year of data) This has enabled governments to track trends in whitegoods efficiency, market trends and attributes very accurately over time This is invaluable for regulatory proposals and to keep labelling relevant and updated (e.g. MEPS proposal for refrigerators in 2021)
Energy labels Left: 1986 to 2000 Middle: 2000 to 2010 included regrade Right: 2010 to 2020 (refrigerators) included regrade
Data collection and method GfK is a market monitoring company that collect sales data from all major retailers in Australia Data purchased includes brand, model, basic appliance details, purchase price and sales Appliances covered include refrigerators, freezer, clothes washers, clothes dryers and dishwashers Each GfK record is cross matched to a registration in the regulatory database registration for labelling and MEPS is mandatory in Australia and NZ This allows all key attributes to be accurately sales weighted for each year Trends in attributes can then be examined
Refrigerators Sales are currently around 1 million units per year Sales value is about AU$1 billion per year Sizes for most types (Groups) have been stable for many years, but there is a slight trend in market share from smaller types to larger types => larger average sizes Energy has decreased at 2.7% per annum for 25 years Real prices have decreased at around 1.8% per annum for 25 years (CPI adjusted)
Refrigerator energy trends (1993 base)
Refrigerator energy and price
Freezers Sales are currently around 150,000 units per year Sales value is about AU$74 million per year Sizes for vertical manual defrost have declined, vertical auto defrost also getting smaller, chest freezers steady in size (average 220 litres) Energy has decreased at 2.7% per annum for 25 years Real prices have decreased at around 2.5% per annum for 25 years (CPI adjusted)
Freezer energy trends (1993 base)
Freezer energy and price
Clothes washers Sales are currently around 780,000 units per year Sales value is about AU$570 million per year Front loaders have been increasing share and are now 50% of the new market Capacity for all types has increased markedly in recent years Energy has decreased at 2.8% per annum for 21 years mainly due to sales shift from top to front loaders Real prices have decreased at around 2.9% per annum for 21 years (CPI adjusted)
Sales share by washer type
Capacity by washer type
Energy by washer type
Dishwashers and dryers Dishwasher sales are currently around 370,000 units and sales value is about AU$300 million per year Dishwasher energy has decreased at 2.7% per annum and water decreased at 3.9% pa for 21 years Dishwasher real prices have decreased at around 3.1% per annum for 21 years (CPI adjusted) Dryer sales are currently around 275,000 units (falling) and sales value is about $140 million per year Dryer energy has been almost stable for 21 years Dryer real prices have decreased at around 0.4% per annum for 21 years (CPI adjusted)
Dishwasher energy and water
Dryer sales share
Dryer average capacity
Dryer average energy
Price energy regression Analysis of the 2016/17 refrigerator market for all types Developed a size-energy regression Developed a size-price regression Calculated normalised price and energy for each model (is it more or less expensive/use more or less energy than an average model) Examined normalised price versus normalised energy to see if more expensive models use less energy All regressions are sales weighted Most Groups showed weak negative correlation between price and energy (around -0.3 to -0.7 $/kwh) Some Groups showed positive correlation where more energy was more expensive due to features
Size versus price Group 5T
Size versus energy Group 5T
Normalised energy vs price Group 5T
Conclusions Market monitoring over the long term is the gold standard for obtaining trend data on appliances Australia s data set is one of the best in the world Data provides valuable insights for regulators when programs are updated or revamped (e.g. new MEPS) enables good and accurate regulation Long term monitoring provides a sound base for past and future evaluation of programs This data provides reassurance that labelling and MEPS have been having a positive influence on energy consumption in the long term
Acknowledgements More details on whitegoods trends are available in the main report available from www.energyrating.gov.au The author was commissioned by The Department of Industry, Innovation and Science to undertake detailed analysis of GfK data on behalf of the E3 Committee Permission to access the data for this paper and presentation is gratefully acknowledged