OK, one more rating label to add to the mix. You’ve probably seen the ubiquitous yellow Energy Guide sticker on new appliances in stores.

What it means: Energy Guide lists the manufacturers’ self-reported performance numbers, not the results of independent third-party testing. Plus, those numbers may not reflect how you’ll use the product in your own home (do you make a special effort to use the most energy-efficient settings at all times, or do you dry tons of laundry on high heat?) or the rates your utility charges. 

So if you use Energy Guide labels at all, use them to compare models in the store in terms of up-front cost vs. annual operating cost. But the labels don’t provide enough context to tell you whether a product is really the best energy-saving deal you can get for the price. That’s where Energy Star and CEE come in.

Pricing: Energy Guide labels are government mandated and appear on all products in all price ranges. So it’s not a way to sort by price.