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Welcome to the TESAW home page. This page tells you how to find an award winning appliance, the award criteria by product type, the label (what to look for) and details for manufacturers on how to apply for an award.
To be eligible for a TESAW award, products must meet minimum energy efficiency criteria. Manufacturers also have to agree to a set of award conditions. Awards are year specific - the minimum energy efficiency criteria and the conditions will be updated each year. The 2006 award criteria have just been released.
The criteria for the 2006 Award Year have been released and apply to products registered or which have valid registrations during the 2006 award year.
New criteria for 2006 are now available for new registrations. Those products that have already accepted a 2005 award and which also meet the 2006 criteria can be upgraded for the 2006 award listing on confirmation that the product is still available on the market through the on-line registration system. Products with a 2005 award will remain on display until 31 March 2006.
The TESAW criteria for 2006 are unchanged relative to the 2005 levels for all products except for air conditioners, where more stringent MEPS levels are being introduced in 2006 for some product categories. Only the cooling criteria for non-ducted split system air conditioners have been increased to 5 stars 2006.
In 2005 detailed discussions and negotiations were held with the US Environmental Protection Agency and the US Department of Energy. These resulted in an in-principle agreement that Australia and New Zealand could set local Energy Star criteria for products that were sold in the Australasian market (such as white goods where the USA had their own domestic criteria), subject to detailed review by EPA and DOE on a product by product basis. On this basis, EEEC decided to move towards the use of the Energy Star label as the primary endorsement label for appliances and equipment in Australia and to discontinue TESAW as an endorsement label. A complete overview of the regulatory and endorsement framework in Australia and New Zealand is in preparation to facilitate further discussions.
To allow a smooth transition from TESAW to Energy Star, EEEC has decided to continue the TESAW scheme for each product until suitable Energy Star criteria are finalised.
The discussion paper on star rating algorithms for refrigerators and freezers has draft Energy Star criteria for these products which are to be introduced in 2007.
TESAW is an award system that governments have created to recognise the most efficient star rated products on the market. It applies to both electric and gas products that carry a star rating energy label. It is an award system that helps consumers quickly identify the most efficient products on the market. The award is updated every year and the scheme replaces the previous Galaxy Award system.
Appliances with an Award are listed in the normal appliance listings on this website. If the product is an award winner then this will be shown in the first column. You can even sort this column so that all the award winners are at the top by clicking the arrows at the top of the column.
You can also view a list of all TESAW Award Winners for all products.
There are separate TESAW labels for electric and gas appliances. For electric appliances, manufacturers have the option of including the TESAW award year in the green band at the bottom of the energy label.
Electrical products that are eligible for TESAW Award may carry one of two labels.
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The first is a specially designed TESAW label as shown here. The label is about half the size of a normal electric energy label and is in the same colours. This label should sit adjacent to the normal electric energy label. High Resolution copy of label |
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The second variation is where the Award and year are indicated in the green bar of the normal electric energy label. |
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At this stage, the only option for gas appliances is the specially designed TESAW label as shown here. The option of indicating the TESAW award on the normal gas energy will be reconsidered when the gas label design is revised. |
Each year, government officials review the energy efficiency of all products on the market. In consultation with industry, they set minimum energy efficiency criteria (usually a minimum star rating) for TESAW awards for the coming year. From the start of the award period (November), manufacturers of existing products or new products that meet the minimum energy efficiency criteria are eligible to apply. Once an award is granted, the manufacturer is eligible to display the TESAW label on the award winning product in retail stores and on promotional material pertaining to the product. The products will also be listed on this website.
The TESAW label is an endorsement label - it is complementary to the normal star rating label. If you find a product that carries a TESAW label for the current year, you can be sure that it is one of the most efficient models on the market.
Star ratings, which are a measure of product energy efficiency, are a good way of comparing the energy efficiency of products. With a list of all the products on the market, and using a star rating, it is an easy task to pick the most energy efficient. For various reasons the highest star rating may not be known (see below) in which case the TESAW label tells us quickly that a chosen product is one of the most efficient in its class on the market.
Several issues can complicate the search for the most energy efficient product:-
At this stage the process of applying for an electric and a gas TESAW award differs as set out below.
When you register an electrical product for energy labelling online, the system assesses the eligibility of your product for an Award within the current award year. If your product is eligible for an award, you will be prompted to confirm that:
If you are using a paper registration application, you will need to liaise with your regulator who processes the application to check whether you are eligible and to make arrangements for acceptance of the award conditions.
When you are entering the information, you will be asked for the date that the product became or will become available on the Australian market. This date is used to trigger the appearance of the registration and the associated award on the website. Similarly, you can enter an "off market date" at any time to take a registration off the interactive listing. The appearance date and off market date do not affect the validity of the registration.
If you are granted an award, it will appear as an icon against the product in the interactive listings on this website. See the conditions of the TESAW award for details of eligibility in subsequent years.
If you wish to apply for a gas product TESAW award, you will need to complete the TESAW gas application form below and send this to the Australian Gas Association. Contact details and conditions of the award are included on the form.
Gas TESAW application form (PDF/paper version)
Gas TESAW application form (Word/electronic version)To secure a TESAW Award in subsequent years you must re-confirm (on-line) the declaration you made when applying for the initial award. For applicants who do not use the on-line registration system you will need to contact your state regulator to arrange for the acceptance of a current TESAW award.
Instructions for on-line users - On your home page, those previous award winning products that met last years award criteria shall now display an "Eligible" icon (graphic) in the "awards" column (second column from the right). Left click on this icon, complete the declaration and your latest TESAW award will be granted immediately (appearing on www.energyrating.gov.au the following day). If you do not complete the declaration your product will not be granted a current award and the previous TESAW award will continue to display on the public website only until 31 December of the award year.
There are detailed label specifications for the design and printing of each of the TESAW labels. These specifications include label size, fonts, colours and layout for use on the label. Manufacturers are responsible for printing their own labels. The specifications page also includes an electronic version that can be used as the base artwork.
All documentation regarding TESAW found on this website can be downloaded in one document TESAW Overview (634 kB).
This page last modified 02 February 2009
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