Requirements for Clothes Washers - Energy Labelling

Clothes washers are regulated for energy labelling in Australia.

Product Definition: Clothes washers which are intended for household or similar use.

Test Standards: Note that all energy labelling standards for clothes washers are published jointly by Standards Australia and Standards New Zealand.

AS/NZS2040: Performance of household electrical appliances- Clothes washing machines Part 1: Energy Consumption and Performance

AS/NZS2040: Performance of household electrical appliances- Clothes washing machines Part 2: Energy labelling requirements

Part 1 of the standard defines the test procedures for the determination of energy consumption and performance of clothes washers in Australia.

Part 2 of the standard sets out the requirements for energy labelling of clothes washers in Australia. An approved Energy Label for clothes washers must be displayed on all products which are offered for sale in Australia.

These standards can be purchased from Standards Australia.

Find out how to make an application for an energy label.

Details of the new mandatory rinse performance requirements from 2006 are now available.

Overview of the Test Procedure for Clothes Washers

Products are classified into either drum type (generally front loading) or non drum type (all other types eg top loaders with impellers or agitators, twin tub machines). A number of performance requirements must be met by clothes washers during a test for energy consumption. These include:

Wash performance - soil removal from soiled swatches (swatch type AS9), which are attached to a clothes load of rated capacity, must exceed 80% (there are also limits on the variability of the wash).
Spin performance - the water extraction index (defined as ratio of the remaining water in the load after the final spin to the bone dry mass) must not exceed 1.1.
Rinse performance - a maximum concentration of 2.25 mg PBIS per kg of load. This a new mandatory requirement from July 2006 - more details are on the rinse performance page.
Severity of washing - the severity of washing index must not exceed 0.3 after a single run.
Water consumption - shall not exceed 110% of the value stated by the manufacturer.
Water pressure - machine shall be capable of operating at the maximum and minimum water pressure stated by the manufacturer.

Energy consumption is measured on the program recommended for a normally soiled cotton load at the rated capacity. The minimum wash temperature for energy labelling tests is 35°C.

Note that energy consumption measured to the Australian Standard will be different to values measured under other test procedures, as the bulk of the energy consumption for a clothes washer test is used to heat the water and energy consumption is therefore closely correlated with wash temperature. The Australian Standard allows external hot water connections - energy input in these cases is calculated as the heat energy of the hot water used. Cold water energy corrections are undertaken for those operations where either external hot water is drawn into the machine or where water is heated internally. The base temperature for the calculation of water energy is 20°C under AS/NZS 2040 (note that IEC60456 uses 15°C as the base temperature). Hot water is supplied at 60°C. Dynamic water pressure is 320 kPa. All tests are undertaken with a power supply at 240 Volts and 50 Hz.

The Preface of AS/NZS 2040 of Part 1 describes the recent changes in the clothes washer test procedure in Australia. It also describes the relationship between the Australian Standard and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) standard for clothes washers.

The Preface of AS/NZS 2040 of Part 2 describes the current requirements for energy labelling for MEPS in Australia and New Zealand.

This page last modified 27 June 2007