Region of Murcia news, Plan Renove receives new allocation of cash

2010-02-16

Plan Renove which encourages consumers to exchange inefficient domestic electrical appliances for more up to date , energy efficient models, is being re-launched for another edition, with 2, 210,000 euros worth of budget allocated to the plan, enough to exchange 27,000 electrical appliances.

 

Every year 2.8 million household electrical appliances are replaced in Spain, and whilst many of them end up in landfill sites, others are sold on as second hand, finishing life  in holiday or second homes.

The aim of this plan is to take them out of circulation altogether, and ensure that they are replaced with newer, more energy efficient models, which minimize carbon emissions and reduce the draw on electricity providers.

To help you identify which appliances are more energy efficient than others, a Europe wide system of labeling exists, representing a practical way of providing information to help people thinking of buying electrically powered appliances. It allows consumers to find out quickly how energy efficient a given electrical appliance is. It must be displayed on all household electrical appliances on sale to the public.

The types of household electrical appliances for which energy labelling is mandatory are:

• Fridges and freezers.
• Washing machines.
• Dishwashers.
• Tumble driers.
• Washing machines - driers.
• Household lighting.
• Electric ovens.
• Air-conditioning.

Labels have a common part which refers to the brand, name of the appliance and energy efficiency class. The other part of the label may vary from one type of appliance to another and refers to other characteristics, such as the functions offered: for example, the freezer capacity in the case of fridges, or water consumption in the case of washing machines.

There are 7 efficiency classes, which are identified by a colour code and letters which go from the colour green and letter A, for the most efficient units, to the colour red and letter G for the least efficient equipment.

An excellent source of information about identifying and sourcing energy efficient appliances is the IDEA site, the Institute for Energy Diversification and Saving of Energy  on www.idae.es, which has good information in english about the whole question of energy efficiency. They have databases which you can link into to research all things relating to energy efficiency, even cars.

 

The Plan Renove has already facilitated the exchange of  more than 60,000 electrical appliances, each region setting its' own specifications for the value it pays back on each type of appliance, the higher the energy efficiency, the higher the grant.

 

Grants available range from 50 euros for a gas cooker, to 125 euros for a high usage item such as a fridge, and the grant given may not exceed 23% of the value of an appliance.

The grant is also only available on replacement items, which is  a very clever way of clearing up the streets as everyone scurried to pick up a broken washing machine to qualify for the grants when the last edition of the plan was announced, as appliances which are being replaced must be removed and recycled in their entirety.

 

We were advised to consult the ARGEM site , which is our regional energy efficiency site for details of all the retailers involved in the scheme, on www.argem.es, but can't see the list anywhere, although they have an excellent list of registered installers. We have emailed and asked for a list, but don't hold your breath, so if you're considering changing a Fridge, Fridge Freezer, Freezer, Washing machine, drier, or electric oven in the near future, you're probably better to just ask in your local electrical appliances retailer and check if they're part of the scheme.

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