When we go to buy a refrigerator, it is not like buying grocery items or clothing. The experience is different, the refrigerator is a bulky item both in terms of size and the money involved. Some refrigerators can cost up to 100,000 bucks though this is not the average cost of the refrigerator if you buy a refrigerator with modern technologies like automatic lights shut off, temperature control, fingerprint sensor, digital temperature readings, double door and a high-capacity refrigerator then such amount is justified.
Among things that most people think about before getting a new refrigerator are budget, size available in the house, and need because why would a bachelor take a 200-litre refrigerator, it is of no use to him. But besides these categories, a star-rating refrigerator is one of the key things to look at while going to buy a refrigerator. You would have seen stickers of stars in refrigerators. They are often categorised as 1-star, 2-star or any-star refrigerators. In both offline and online stores, there are specific categories for star ratings along with price range, colour, capacity, single door or double door etc.
For people who are still confused and don’t what exactly this star rating denotes read this article at Virablogy till the end. In today’s society due to immense traffic in the consumer goods segment, it is necessary to have a basic knowledge of the latest tech news at Virablogy to remain aware of the tricksters. Not many educated people may believe whatever the salesman would say. Do not worry our team had done a dedicated survey to bring the best information in the simplest manner so that a common man can also understand.
Star rating background?
Well, just buying any home appliance is not enough, one must be financially sound to fulfil its maintenance costs, the peripherals that must be bought along with it and other related costs. For example, you would need transport to carry the refrigerator to the delivered address if you are buying it from a store hence, the cost of the transport. The electricity bill will be increased significantly for which you should be ready. And this is not just for one month but for the upcoming lifetime till which the refrigerator will exist. You can say the increased bill will be the new normal.
And this is because the refrigerator is one such electrical device in the house that is consuming electricity 24*7. AC, Television and other appliances in the latest tech news are switched on only when needed, they consume electricity for a few hours and that’s done, but that is not the case with refrigerators. And Star Rating is one of the best techniques for identifying the electricity consumption of any refrigerator. Someone who doesn’t even know much calculations can make an assumption about the electricity consumption by just looking at the star rating.
What is Star Rating?
Since electricity became the new necessity and all of our activities became dependent on electricity governments focussed on spreading awareness and making laws to limit the consumption of electricity and prevent its wastage. One such technique was to make people aware of energy-efficient devices. Such as, earlier filament bulbs consumed an immense amount of electricity, and then came CFL and LED bulbs that gave out identical intensity of light at much lower consumption.
Thus, the Government of India launched the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) in May 2006 to encourage efforts regarding energy saving and efficiency. Immediately after being established BEE initiated a nationwide Refrigerator Star Rating. The concept was simple, the more the number of stars, the more the energy efficiency which means a higher refrigerator with a higher star rating will save more electricity and vice-versa. Being energy sufficient means, it will consume less electricity.
Now, the comparison must be between similar categories. You cannot compare a 3 Star 200-litre refrigerator with a 3 Star 50-litre refrigerator just because the number of stars is the same. A 200-litre refrigerator will definitely consume more electricity than a 50 litre, hence it must be compared with another 200-litre refrigerator only. This is why BEE gives Refrigerator Star Ratings under specific categories like 200 to 250 litres, 100 to 120 litres etc. At max, a refrigerator can have 5 Stars and a minimum of one, it can have fractional values like 3.5., 4.5 etc.
Other features and hidden information
A 5-star refrigerator will consume less electricity than is known to everybody. But it will also have the most efficient compressor that is actually the soul of the refrigerator. The sum of money which you pay for the refrigerator, out of that majority of it is the cost of the compressor. Hence, the more efficient the compressor its cost. This is why the higher the number of stars, the higher the price of the refrigerator. A lot of customers settle for a 2 or 3-star rated refrigerator to maintain a balance between their budget and features.
But there is a reason that 5-star refrigerators are more preferred and experts advise customers to buy them rather than a lower-rated refrigerator. This is because a 5-star refrigerator is not doubted expensive but that is a one-time investment. It saves a lot of electricity and after three to four years, the savings of electricity will equal the cost of that refrigerator. Hence, one can say that they could the refrigerator for free after a few years.
On the other hand, a 2 or 1-star rated refrigerator will be less expensive and everyone could afford it. But it will raise the electricity bill significantly, even double it. And mind you, paying electricity bills is a monthly affair, not a one-time investment. Whereas you may take a 5-star refrigerator on EMI that would end after a few months, and your electricity bill will be raised minimal.
Conclusion
This article will surely fill readers with a basic understanding of the latest tech news on refrigerators. Virablogy is known for such high in detail but simple ways of saying that information to its readers. I Hope, this helped you in understanding Refrigerator Star Ratings.