Consumer Voice

JOINT RESEARCH STUDY AND MUTUAL EXCHANGE PROGRAM ON COLLECTION OF MARKET DATA FOR PROMOTING ENERGY EFFICIENCY AND LABELING INITIATIVES IN SOUTH ASIA REGION.

Comparative Testing

Objectives

How ATest Is Done

Products already Tested

Executive Summery

1. BACKGROUND

Electricity is a critical input for economic development and the progress all over the world is associated with massive increase in energy requirement especially in South Asia. Due to recent economic liberalization and restructuring of economic policies, there is massive flow of foreign funds in South Asia in terms of Joint ventures in manufacturing bases. Due to which gap in demand & supply of electricity is widening. There are various other factors associated with unreliable grid supply especially transmission & distribution losses. In light of the above, various National Governments are taking measures in maintaining sufficient & reliable electricity supply to all the potential consumers to sustain the economic growth of their country. To further improve upon the prevailing power problems, SARI/E-South Asia Regional Initiative on Energy of USAID (United States Agency for International Development) has played a pivotal role in bringing together the countries of south Asia region to apprise them on most efficient use of energy and reduce pressure on further power generation derived from non-renewable resources. During the last two years, SARI/E has conducted various training programs primarily on the key objectives to sensitize the potential stake-holders of various countries in this region on promoting the concept of Energy Efficiency Standards & Labeling (EES&L) Program and Harmonization of test procedures / protocols in the South Asia Region and establish network among the National Standards Bodies, policy makers to understand the potential benefits from EES&L program and reduce trade barriers.

To further promote the benefits of EES&L, SARI/E invited proposal especially from NGO’s to join hands together to carry forward its initiatives for ultimate benefit of south Asian countries particularly who has common socio-economic, cultural similarities and also have free flow of trade among various countries having usage of common products.

VOICE and SLEMA proposed a joint study on the following objectives :-

· Generation of market data on availability and popularity of 5 identified brands / models, prominent manufacturers.
· Label information and violation, (if any) as per labeling provisions of the country.
· Information on Energy Consumption as, claimed
· Dissemination of information through published report and newsletter.

2. METHODOLOGY :

Collection of Market data on 5 identified products including retail market research of Metro Cities / big cities of both countries as they represent geographical coverage of the country. Market survey has covered 140 retailers / per product, except Air Conditioners it was 90 each in case of Sri Lanka. The market survey has been carried out on finalized structured questionnaires which had questions on Brands, Models, Category, Types, Popularity, MRP (Max Retail Price), Retail Price, Warranty/Guarantee, any claims on Power Consumption etc. This has given valuable data on products category, type, brands and models, labels into / claims on energy consumption, standards marks, availability etc. Information on product specification were also collected from other sources like, exhibitions / trade fairs / Distributors, wholesalers, websites etc.

3. RESULTS OF THE STUDY :

During the survey & field visits, it has been seen that there are wide variety of Ceiling Fans, Ballasts, CFL’s, which are abundantly available in the retail market places. However in case of Refrigerators and Air Conditioners, there are 10-15 prominent manufacturers respectively have their various brands models in retail markets. There is also a stiff competition in the Ceiling fans and Ballasts due to various manufacturer from unorganized sector of India whose prices ranges from Rs. 500 – 1400 in the sizes of 24” to 60” of regular category. The price range for different sizes was from Rs. 2100 – 3600 (SLR). However our study was focused on regular and most selling sizes and models. Most of the manufacturers offer 6 months to 2 year warranty of except one (Polar) who offered 7 years warranty.

In Ballasts (Chokes) it has been seen that there is a strong domination of unorganized brands in Magnetic (Copper / Aluminum) type. The market share of Magnetic Ballast in India and Srilanka is 65% & 80% respectively. Their prices ranges from a mere Rs. 30-150/- in India and Rs. 35 - 220 in Srilanka. There is also a fair presence in the electronic ballasts which cost between Rs. 70 to 350/- covering 6 months to 1 years warranty. It has also been found another improved version of magnetic ballast with technical name as VPIT (Vacuum Pressure Impregnated Technology) or popularly called “Compact Ballasts”. Since there is a potential saving on use of Electronic Ballast, consumer can save about 100 W per day on use of one tube light (10 hours usage) against a magnetic ballast. In Sri Lanka, some of the popular Ballasts are also available with energy labels watt loss criteria.

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In the case of CFL’s which also has significant number of brands available is the retail market where apart from 15-20 well known brands, all the other brands are cheap quality Chinese brands and some local brands commonly available at very cheap prices. It is also beyond doubt that there is a great saving of energy (50-80 W) on use of CFLs (15 & 20 W) against incandescent lamps (for use against 75-100 W lamps).

Eleven out of 17 known brands had Energy labels in Srilanka on performance factor criteria and most of them are above 3 star rating which clearly indicates significant progress in Energy labeling program in Sri Lanka.

One of the major discrepancy found was non availability of adequate Label information in general and power consumption in particular except CFL’s. During the label evaluation of 17 CFLs procured by us, it was amazing to note that two particular brands namely Lintek & Philips (Ecotone) had energy label marking for different countries. Out of 10 Ceiling Fans purchased only 4 had labeled power consumption (50 - 78 W). Out of 15 magnetic ballasts as bought, only 3 had given Watt-Loss (9 – 12 W). None of the Refrigerators has mentioned any power consumption in its brochures / pamphlets. Most of the Air Conditioners (Window & Split) have mentioned about Power Consumption in its Brochures / Pamphlets. But there is a wide gap of consumption within the same category and size due to their different models .

Keeping in view the vide variety available at very competitive prices, the choices of consumers become more challenging and confusing in choosing a good quality products competitive markets especially in the case of Ceiling Fans, Ballasts and CFL’s. In the case of Refrigerators, Power consumption in totally absent which is very vital particularly when consumer buys a durable product for long use. During most occasions, consumers are deprived of high quality products (costing distinctly high) against the poor quality products available at throw away prices, thereby driving consumer to buy cheap quality products by the retailers.

4. RECOMMENDATION :

During the entire process of the project study so far, it a number of recommendation emerge from the evaluation of various processes which needs immediate attention of National Standards Bodies, enforcement agency, utility bodies, policy makers, Manufacturers etc. to take immediate step for corrective action on availability of quality products at affordable prices to consumers, Particularly on energy efficient products and Label information. Some of the salient findings are being recommended for earliest implementation :

· Immediate need to provide adequate and reliable label information on the product & packaging especially on power consumption and encouraging manufacturers to avoid giving adequate realistic product information to the consumers depriving consumers of their rights.

· None of the product as surveyed (in India) except one Ceiling Fan, two CFLs and three Ballasts had any standards marketing or Energy label marking on the products But in Sri Lanka Most of the popular Ballasts and CFLs had Energy Labels. It’s a lesson to Indian Standard formulation bodies who are urged for speedier implementation of EE&L Standards on availability of Energy labeling on Energy Efficient products on potential savings.

· More and more durable products need to be brought under the EE&L standards program.

· Top priority actions on generation of test data for Benchmarking of minimum energy performance standards to push forward for effective & speedier implementation of EE&L program within the country & Region where NGOs can play a decisive role in promoting.

· Mass consumer awareness program on use of energy efficient products particularly products of Mass consumption.

· National Standards needs immediate modification of specifications and should mention requirement on power consumption of all types of Refrigerator and other products of mass consumption.

· Last but not the least, Regional Countries to follow identical & uniform product standards because of free flow of trade, availability of similar products among the countries of region on potential energy savings & benefits for improved product quality and efficiency.

("This Report/Project was sponsored by SARI/Energy small grants program, which is supported by USAID and implemented by Winrock International.")