After glossing over your bills and reading more about your home’s electricity ratings, you’ll eventually grow curious about specific terms concerning the energy efficiency of your appliances. One of these particular terms that you might not be so familiar with is the concept of CEE Tiers—a key figure that affects your home appliances more than you might expect.
If you’re looking to familiarize yourself with the concept of CEE Tiers, we’ve put together this comprehensive yet quick guide on everything that you need to know:
What is the CEE?
Before we delve deeper into the topic of tiers, let’s first understand what the CEE exactly is.
The Consortium of Energy Efficiency (CEE) describes itself as follows:
“…The US and Canadian consortium of gas and electric efficiency program administrators. We work together to accelerate the development and availability of energy-efficient products and services for lasting public benefit.”
As a nonprofit that seeks to bring together energy efficiency program administrators—such as your local gas or electric utility—the CEE develops market initiatives that pave the way for sustainable homeownership. The organization does this by promoting the manufacture and purchase of energy-efficient products and services and incorporating information from manufacturers, other nonprofits, research labs, and government agencies!
CEE Energy Rating
Now that you understand a little more of the CEE’s definition, it’s time to move onto the ratings themselves.
The concept in question stems from one of the organization’s initiatives: the Super-Efficient Home Appliance Initiative (SEHA). This particular effort provides specifications of super-efficiency by establishing tiers that energy performance manufacturers may choose to meet for washers, refrigerators, dishwashers, and room air conditioners—hence, the concept of tiers.
Although it is considered a successor (or accompaniment) of the Energy Star rating, the CEE tier remains a mystery to many. However, it shouldn’t be ignored because it provides further energy efficiency details, which means energy savings to the consumer. The effectiveness of this particular rating is that it uses the Energy Star rating coupled with the Modified Energy Factor (MEF) and Water Factor (WF) to assess energy efficiency!
How does the CEE tier work?
The CEE tier list is fairly simple: it’s a list that ranks and rewards energy-efficient appliances and models with higher ratings.
Generally, the CEE Tier 1 is the same as the qualification for an Energy Star rating—with all succeeding tiers following suit. When a product has higher tiers, it means that a higher level of performance is available alongside a cost-effective payback period that helps with influencing purchasing decisions that are made according to efficiency.
Based on the system of CEE tiers, products that are ranked at Tier 1 or higher represent the top 25% of appliances on the market relative to energy efficiency. Like the Energy Star ratings, the figure uses higher ratings to denote increased energy savings, which is why it spans over to higher ratings that go until tier 4.
What brands meet CEE Tier 3 Criteria?
Suppose you are looking to outfit your home with the most energy-efficient appliances on the market. In that case, you’re definitely going to want to look at the sector of available CEE Tier 3 options. Fortunately, there are certain brands that are especially known for manufacturing products that fall into a higher standard of savings and eco-friendliness, such as:
Conclusion
Finding the best and most energy-efficient appliances on the market is an endeavor that can be quite difficult to uphold. Yet, this is where the concept of CEE Tiers can be especially helpful. By shopping according to the ratings in question, you’ll have a much easier experience picking the best of the best so that you can start living a much more sustainable lifestyle at home!
AllSouth Appliance takes pride in supplying the most sustainable kitchen appliances in Birmingham, AL, that all hold remarkable CEE Tier 1, 2, and 3 ratings. If you’re looking to deck your home out with the tools it needs for lower bills and a lower carbon footprint, get in touch with us today!
