BEE star ratings: What are they and why should you know about them

Whether you’re purchasing a new AC, washing machine or any other electrical appliance, chances are you’ve already spotted the star rating on some of these products. Contrary to popular belief, these white stars have nothing to do with the quality or make of a product, but instead, tell buyers about the energy efficiency of the appliances.

But what are these star ratings exactly? How do they determine which product consumes more or less electricity? These are some of the questions we’ll be answering today.

What are the BEE star ratings?

The BEE Star Ratings, or simply, the star ratings, are a popular grading system that ranks the energy efficiency of all electrical appliances sold in India. The five-point system is a great easy-to-understand way for buyers to know what to expect in terms of energy consumption and subsequent electricity bills from an appliance without getting into technical jargon.

With the star rating system, the higher the number of stars, the higher the energy efficiency of a given product. This means 1-star TVs will use much more electricity compared to 4 or 5-star TVs. The same also applies to other appliances. While the star rating system doesn’t exactly offer too many technical details including the exact energy consumption or estimates of electricity bills, it is a great way to compare two or more products side-by-side when you’re still hunting for a new appliance.

The star rating system was introduced by the BEE or Bureau of Energy Efficiency, a wing of the Indian government, that oversees power consumption figures in the electronics industry. Over the years, the BEE has made it mandatory for many appliances to have a star rating to be eligible to sell in India. This is so customers can make better purchase decisions as per their requirements. For instance, starting January 2023, the selling of ceiling fans without a star rating has been prohibited in India.

How is the BEE star rating calculated?

The BEE star rating is calculated using a grading system called the EER or Energy Efficiency Ratio. However, since the temperature and conditions of most Indian regions are drastically different from those in other countries, using the EER numbers directly did not make much sense with respect to usage in India.

For instance, the electricity it requires for an AC to cool down a room to 24 degrees when the temperature outside is 30 degrees is much less than when the temperature outside is 42 degrees. How then, do you define how efficient the cooling of an AC is?

The answer lies in seasonal energy usage. So, the BEE created the ISEER (Indian Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio) grading system, which was made mandatory in 2018. The ISEER number for a product is the total seasonal cooling load divided by the product’s seasonal energy consumption. The ratio it gives determines the star rating of a given product.

Note that the star rating of one product, say a ceiling fan, can not be compared to that of another product, like a TV. You also cannot directly compare star ratings between different classes of the same product. For example, comparing the star rating of a window AC to that of a split AC would not be a meaningful comparison. Always use the ratings to compare the same class of products.