
Have you seen the BEE star label on an electric appliance? Do you know what does it mean? BEE which stands for Bureau of Energy Efficiency derives its origin from the Energy Conservation Act 2001. It was set up on 1 March 2002 by the Government of India. All of us are dealing with the negative effects of the global warming and climate change. The governments all over the world have been striving to reduce the emissions of carbon dioxide so as to save the planet Earth. Both the developed and the developing nations have been pushing for the use of renewable sources of energy such as the wind and the sun. But the use of these resources is limited and cannot cater to the energy requirements of such a huge population. Keeping this in mind the Government of India has embarked upon a mission to reduce the carbon dioxide emissions by saving energy. This is the best way to achieve energy efficiency and save our environment.
Aim of BEE
The Bureau of Energy Efficiency has been set up with the mission to set policies and frame strategies which can help achieve efficiency in the energy usage of the appliances. It also maintains a proper thrust on the self-regulation and other market principles. This body works in close coordination with the government, industry bodies, manufacturers, consumers, and other non-governmental organizations so that the policies framed by this body relates to the needs of the users as well along with the conservation of the energy.
The Standards and Labelling Programme
Whenever you go to buy an electrical appliance you have a variety of options to choose from. Your heart wants to go by looks but your mind wants to buy something that is energy efficient so that the utility bills at a later stage do not put a strain on your pocket. The BEE has started this labeling program with the objective of making people around the country aware of the energy consumption of a particular appliance. Currently, this program is running for the refrigerators, televisions, fans, air conditioners, and many other electric appliances. If you have made up your mind to save energy then you should mandatorily look for this label on every appliance that you buy.
Now we will talk about the BEE rating and its meaning.
The BEE gives the star rating to the appliances based on their power consumption and system efficiency. More the number of star rating a fan gets less is the power consumed by it. Energy Efficiency Ratio (EER) is measured and the fans are then rated accordingly. EER represents the ratio of the cooling capacity of the motor of the fan in watts. An appliance which has a higher EER is rated high on the BEE standards and given more stars and vice versa.
In India, the BEE revises the star ratings of the appliances including the fans every two years.
On the scale of the stars, 1 star indicates the minimum efficiency of the appliance and 5-star rating indicates maximum efficiency.
Now that you are aware of the fact that BEE ratings can help you choose the best power efficient fans according to the energy efficiency, the next time you go to buy a fan look out for this label on it. If you buy a fan having high star rating then you are contributing a great deal towards the reduction of the carbon dioxide emissions. All the fans available online on atomberg.com, croma.com, etc. come from the brands labelled by the BEE.