Liebherr domestic appliance division clarifies energy labels for retailers and consumers

The energy labelling system for domestic appliances changed in March, a fact not lost on electrical retailers but one whose differences will need clearly articulating to customers. MATT JINKS, national sales manager for Liebherr‘s Appliance Division, explains how the company got to grips with the new system.

Liebherr has recognised for some time that the old energy label with its extended subclasses, such as A+++, had become increasingly complex for customers, and would become obsolete. Liebherr has prepared for the new label, launched in March, ranking appliances on an efficiency scale from A to G. This will once again make it easier for customers to quickly identify the most energy-efficient appliances.

However, we recognised that we faced a communication challenge: “Due to new measurement procedures and calculation methods, the values of the old label are no longer comparable with the new values,” explains Steffen Nagel, Managing Director of Sales & Marketing at Liebherr-Hausgeräte GmbH. For example, according to the new standard, tests are now carried out at two different ambient temperatures instead of the previous one. To create room for future innovations in energy efficiency, and to avoid exhausting the entire scale right from the start, the upper classes of A and B are extremely difficult to achieve. “This means that previous A+++ appliances will carry a B, C or D label in future, even though they consume just as little energy as before,” says Nagel.

As Liebherr has been developing and producing particularly energy-efficient appliances for many years, its refrigerators achieve consistently good ratings even with the new label. This is really evident in our range of brand-new range of built-in appliances. Liebherr’s developers have once again succeeded in significantly reducing energy consumption.

Liebherr had been fitting their appliances with both the old and new labels since 1 September 2020 – two months before the official date when it becomes mandatory. “Our aim was to support retail in the best possible way minimising their need to act as much as possible,” Nagel explains.

Creating transparency going forward and to provide information about the development of the rating system for the EU energy label, Liebherr has developed a standardised communication concept. This concept helps Liebherr’s retail partners to familiarise customers with the new energy label. “It was important to us to involve retail in this key communication with their customers. For this reason, we have devised clear and comprehensive information materials for the various touchpoints,” explains Steffen Nagel.

For more information on the new energy labelling system, please go to https://home.liebherr.com/en/deu/energylabel/energylabel.html