CHAPTER 10:

ENERGY POLICY- MALAYSIAS ENERGY LABEL

Summary
To reduce energy consumption in the residential sector, Malaysia Energy Commission
is considering implementing energy labels for household electrical appliances including
electric fans in 2005. The purpose of the energy labels is to provide the consumers a
guideline to compare the size, features, price and efficiency of the appliance. This study
discusses the energy label for electric fans in this country based on Malaysian Standards
developed by a technical committee that reviewed the performance of household electrical
appliances. This study includes methodology for the calculation of the energy efficiency star
rating and projected energy usage, performance requirements, details of the energy label and
the requirements for the valid application in Malaysia. The label also can be adopted for
other household electrical appliances with only slight modifications.

1. Introduction
Energy labels enable consumers to compare the energy efficiency of appliances on a
fair and equitable basis. It is also encourages manufacturers to improve energy performance
of the appliance (Egan, 1998). Usually energy efficiency standards and labels are developed
together. Standards are more on technical setting of energy efficiency while labels are
educating consumers about the relative efficiencies of various units (Mahlia et al., 2002). By
educating consumers, energy labels will create competition between manufactures. The
energy labels acts as an indicator telling the potential buyer how energy efficient the product
is. By introducing an appropriate energy label, electric fans with the best energy ratings and
most competitive price are more likely to be sold in large numbers. Energy labels not only
set guidelines of efficiency that manufactures should follow; it also encourages them to
improve their product while keeping their cost low to win the market. Some energy labels
also show the cost of operating the model over a period of time, often one-year. Others
display the rate of efficiency of the appliances. However, an important aspect of energy
labels is to provide the consumers a procedure to compare the performances of similar
product units. This has been done in some cases by showing the energy consumption of a
particular model on a scale that shows the lowest and highest energy consuming models. The
labels must be displayed in the front part of each product and their packaging so that the
consumers get the information at the time of purchase.
The energy label presented in this study was developed by the Technical Committee on
Performance of Household Electrical Appliances of Malaysia. This study includes
methodology for the calculation of the energy efficiency star rating and projected annually
energy usage, performance requirements, details of the energy label, and requirements for
the valid application in Malaysia. It has been structured to be suitable for reference in
legislation and easier for consumers to understand.
The objective of this study is to provide a method of calculating performance testing for
energy labelling requirements for electric fans, in order to develop a valid energy label.

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(i)
(ii)
(iii)
(iv)
(v)
(vi)

In particular, this study will discuss the following:

Projected annual energy consumption (PAE);
Coefficient of performance (COP);
Star rating;
Some of the requirements for energy label validity;
Performance criteria for energy labelling approval; and
Printing requirements for labelling the electric fan.

2. Energy label
There are three categories of energy labels used in various countries those are (Wiel
and McMahon, 2001); (a) endorsement, (b) comparative, and (c) information-only.
Endorsement labels offer a seal of approval that a product meets certain pre-specified
criteria. One example of an endorsement label is the energy star label which is the energy
star label introduced with joint administered by EPA's (US Environmental Protection
Agency) and USDOE (US Department of Energy) (Energy Star, 2003). This label type has
been discussed extensively by Banerjee and Solomon, (2003) and Truffer et al., (2001). A
Comparative label is dividing in two subcategories: one uses a categorical ranking system;
the other uses a continuous scale or bar graph to show relative energy use. The categorical
labels use a ranking system that telling the consumers how energy-efficient of a model is
compared to other. The main emphasis is on establishing clear categories so that the
consumer can easily understand how energy-efficient of the product compare to others by
looking at a single label (CLASP, 2002). The continuous-scale labels provide comparative
information that allows consumers to choose between models, but do not use specific
categories. The sample of this label is the Canadian energy guide. The Information-only
labels provide information on the technical performance of the single labelled product and
offer no simple way (such as a ranking system) to compare energy performance between
products (Wiel and McMahon, 2001).
The details of energy labels for different products may differ slightly. According to
Wiel and McMahon, (2001) it is important to keep a consistent label style and format across
product types. This is easier for consumers who can learn to understand one type of labels to
evaluate different products.
Most of the countries had selected a comparative label for implementing energy labels
for household appliances; therefore it is useful to review the similar energy labels that are
currently being used in most countries around the world. These can be grouped into three
basic styles which are (i) Australian-style label, (ii) European-style label, (iii) U.S.-style
label (Wiel and McMahon, 2001). The Australian style label is having a rectangular base
with a semi-circle across the top. The semi-circle resembles a speedometer or gauge, the
further advanced the gauge is in the clockwise direction, the better the product. This type of
label is used in Australia, Thailand, and South Korea and is proposed for India. The number
of stars or the grading numeral on the scale depends on the energy performance that the
model is able to meet (there are five, six, or seven rankings). The European style label is a
vertical rectangle with letters ranging from A (best) near the top of the label to G (worst) at
the bottom. There is a bar next to each letter: e.g., short and green for A and long and red for
G. All seven grade bars are visible on every label. The grade of the product is indicated by a
black arrow marker located next to the appropriate bar (e.g., for a C-grade product the
marker carries the letter C and is positioned against the C bar). This label is used throughout
Western Europe and in some countries of Eastern Europe. Iran uses a variant of the
European-style label that is a mirror image because of the direction of Persian script and uses
numerals rather than Roman script letters for rankings: i.e., 1 (best) to 7 (worst) (Wiel and
McMahon, 2001).
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The U.S.-style label shows energy cost which based on the national average energy
tariff. It also has a linear scale indicating the highest and lowest energy use of models in the
market and locates the specific model on that scale. This type of label is used in the U.S. and
Canada, where labels are now technically but not visually harmonized (e.g., U.S. labels show
energy costs, and Canadian labels do not) (Thorne, 2000; Harrington and Damnics, 2001). In
both cases, use of monetary units (dollars) was abandoned in favour of physical units (i.e.,
kWh or efficiency) because variability in energy prices causes labels based on outdated
prices to be misleading (Wiel and McMahon, 2001).
The literatures showed that only two types of energy labels work effectively. First, the
letter grade energy labels which was introduced in the European Union countries, Iran and
Brazil and second, the star or number type of energy labels that have been used in Thailand,
Australia, and India.

3. Energy Labels in Malaysia

The energy label for the electric fan is shown in Fig. 1 and is self-adhesive. If there is
no suitable smooth location on the fan or its packaging for an adhesive label, the label may
be printed and attached as a swing tag. In this case the material should be suitably durable
and rigid. Methods of attachment should not disfigure the artwork of the label. The label
must be attached so that it is not blocked when the unit is displayed.

Fig. 1. Example of energy label

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The Energy Efficiency Label to be affixed on the appliances must be in accordance to the
following specification
Font Specification
Colour Specification
Dimensions
Energy Efficiency Labelling Guideline

3.1.

Font, colour,dimension and Labelling Guideline

The energy label for the electric fan selected is based on Font, colour,dimension and
Labelling Guideline as illustrated in Fig. 2 - 5.

Fig. 2. Font of energy label scheme

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Fig. 3. Color of energy label

Fig. 4. Energy label dimensions

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Fig 5: Energy Efficiency Labelling Guideline

3.2.

Number of tests and processing of data

To get acceptable testing data each fan model should be subjected to at least three testruns to obtain values for power input and COP. Measured power input and COP should be
averaged and treated as the result for the unit. According to the TCPHEA (2002), the COP
for a fan model is calculated by the following equation:
COP

V
P

(1)

PAE P OH 365

(2)

For standards proposed in the energy label the value of PAE yield by this calculation
is usually rounded to kWh per year.

3.3.

Star rating calculation

A five star rating system has been proposed, which will divide the electric fan into five
classes. The highest efficiency grade receives five stars and the lowest efficiency grade (the
minimum energy efficiency standards set for each type of electric fan) will carry one star.
The star rating is calculated based on test data as shown in Table 1.

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Table 1
Star rating calculation
Star Rating Minimum Value
1 Star
Minimum COP
2 Star
Maximum Value of 1 Star
3 Star
Maximum Value of 2 Star
4 Star
Maximum Value of 3 Star
5 Star
Maximum Value of 4 Star

Maximum Value
Minimum COP +
Minimum Value of 2 Star +
Minimum Value of 3 Star +
1.1 Average COP
Unlimited

The label grade is increase with a fixed incremental step size of COP. This increment is
calculated by the following equation (TCPHEA, 2002):

COPave COPmin
3

(3)

Where:
Minimum efficiency standards COP for electric ceiling fan = 2.5 m3/min/Watt
Minimum efficiency standards COP for electric table, stand and wall fan = 0.98 m3/min/Watt
COPave = average COP value of samples collected and tested
3.4.

Proposed star rating and COP

The proposed star rating for electric fans in Malaysia is tabulated in Table 2 and 3. A
complete sample calculation on a typical set of test results is discussed in the following
section.
Table 2
Star rating for electric ceiling fan
Star rating
COP (m3/min/W)
1 Star
2 Star
3 Star
4 Star
5 Star

2.50 2.58
2.58 2.66
2.66 2.74
2.74 3.00
3.00

Table 3
Star rating for electric table, stand and wall fan
Star rating
COP (m3/min/W)
1 Star
2 Star
3 Star
4 Star
5 Star

0.98 1.01
1.01 1.04
1.04 1.07
1.07 1.10
1.10

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4. Performance criteria
This section discussed the methods and procedures for calculating values of the COP
and the star rating for the electric fan, which appear on an energy label and in the application
for registration of an appliance for energy labelling. It demonstrates the application of the
appropriate procedures required to calculate the tested energy performance for each unit. The
process consists of measuring the power input of each unit tested, then calculating the
projected annual energy consumption (PAE) of the unit.
The minimum air delivery proposed for the electric ceiling fan is 200 m3/min and the
minimum air delivery proposed for an electric table fan, electric stand fan and electric wall
fan is 40 m3/min.
For a sample calculation, a 1200 mm ceiling fan has been tested in order to prepare an
energy labelling application. Three test runs were made to get an acceptable result for the
appliances. The test data for the model are presented in Table 4.
Table 4
Test data for 1200 mm ceiling fan
Test- run
P
(W)
No 1
80.00
No 2
81.00
No 3
80.00

V
(m3/min)
210.47
211.79
210.56

Pave
(W)

Vave
(m3/min)

80.33

210.94

The PAE of the model is calculated as follows (2):

PAE
= Pave (W) OH (8 h/day) 365 days/year
= 80.33 8 365
= 234,563.60 Wh/year
= 235 kWh/year
The COP of the model is calculated as follows (1):
COP

Vave (m 3/min)
Pave (W)

COP

210.94
= 2.63 m3/min/W
80.33

From the result of the COP, the star rating of the electric ceiling fan model is
determined from Table 2. In this case the star rating for this particular electric fan is 2 Stars.

5. Conclusion
Even though energy labels are spreading from North America and Europe to many
other countries around the world, the references for developing energy labels are very
limited. The study has presented the energy label proposed for electric fans in Malaysia that
could be used elsewhere too in order to save energy and indirectly reduce greenhouse gas
emissions. The label star rating of electric fans is only effective for a limited period of years,
because energy efficiency of the electric fan will continuously improve due to technological
advance. Therefore, after a certain period, most of the appliances will receive the highest star
rating and the label will lose its effectiveness. At that later time the COP rating for the star
should be increased in accordance with the average rating of electrics fan in the market.

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References
http://www.st.gov.my/index.php/consumer/electricity/efficient-use-of-electricity/energyefficient-appliances.html
Banerjee, A., Solomon, B.D., 2003. Eco-Labeling for energy efficiency and sustainability: a
meta-evaluation of US programs. Energy Policy 31 (2), 109-123.
CLASP, 2002. Collaborative Labeling and appliance standards programs homepage.
ttp://www.clasponline.org.
Egan, K., 1998. Building national standards regimes: regulatory and voluntary approaches in
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http://www.energystar.gov/
Harrington, L., Damnics, M., 2001. Energy labelling and standards programs throughout the
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Mahlia, T.M.I., Masjuki, H.H., Choudhury, I.A., 2002. Theory on energy efficiency
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TCPHEA, 2002. Draft Malaysian Standard of Energy labeling for electric fan in Malaysia,
No: 02E003R0. Technical Committee on Performance of Household Electrical
Appliances of Malaysia. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Thorne, J., 2000. An evaluation of comprehension and use of the U.S. energy guide label:
lesson for effective program design. Proceedings of Domestic Use of Electrical
Energy
Conference,
Cape
Town,
South
Africa.
See
http://www.ctech.ac.za/conf/due/2000/
Truffer, B., Markard, J., Wstenhagen, R., 2001. Eco-labeling of electricitystrategies and
tradeoffs in the definition of environmental standards. Energy Policy 29 (11), 885-897
Wiel, S., McMahon, J.E., 2001. Energy-efficiency Labels and standards: a guidebook for
appliances, equipment and lighting. Collaborative Labeling and Appliance Standards
Program (CLASP), Washington D.C.
Notations
COP
COP ave
COP min
OH
P
PAE
Pave
V

Coefficient of performance, (m3/min/Watt)

Average coefficient of performance, (m3/min/Watt)
Minimum coefficient of performance, (m3/min/Watt)
Operating hour, (hour)
Measured power input, (W)
Annual energy consumption, (kWh)
Average measured power input, (W)
Measured air delivery capacity (m3/min)
Step size increment of COP

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