Glossary · Power, energy and savings

What Does ENERGY STAR Mean? The Efficiency Label Explained

ENERGY STAR

The US government's voluntary energy-efficiency label. Products that carry it are third-party certified to efficiency specs the government sets.

  1. ENERGY STAR launches
  2. The DOE and the EPA agree to consolidate leadership and administration at the DOE
ENERGY STAR, from launch to the 2026 agreement between the agencies that run it.

At a glance

Run by
The DOE and the EPA jointly; leadership moving to the DOE (2026)
Launched
1992
How it works
Voluntary: products that meet the spec may show the logo
Checks
Third-party certification, plus post-market testing of some products each year
Open data
Every certified model's figures are published

ENERGY STAR is the government-backed symbol for energy efficiency, as its own site puts it. The program is voluntary: the government sets efficiency specifications, and products that meet them can choose to display the logo, according to How ENERGY STAR Works. It launched in 1992 and is run jointly by the DOE and the EPA; under a 2026 agreement, the two agencies are consolidating its leadership at the DOE.

How does a product earn the label?

It has to be third-party certified against the program’s performance requirements, and a subset of products is tested again after they go on sale each year.

How do we use ENERGY STAR data?

ENERGY STAR publishes the figures for every certified model, which makes it a good source for what a typical appliance uses. Our power station sizer uses the median of those models for each type of appliance, from fridges to window air conditioners, and shows how many models each figure comes from.

Published by the Plugged Sun editorial team

Sources

  1. How ENERGY STAR Works (Official document, ENERGY STAR (US DOE and EPA), 2026)
  2. ENERGY STAR Certification (Official document, ENERGY STAR (US DOE and EPA), 2026)
  3. About ENERGY STAR (Official document, ENERGY STAR (US DOE and EPA), 2026)

Where ENERGY STAR comes up