How to Read the Yellow EnergyGuide Label

The yellow EnergyGuide label has exactly two numbers that matter: the big dollar figure in the center (the estimated yearly operating cost) and the smaller kilowatt-hour figure near the bottom (the estimated yearly electricity use). The kWh number is the honest, appliance-specific fact. The dollar figure is just that kWh number multiplied by a national average electricity rate the government picked, so it is almost always wrong for your actual bill. Read the kWh, then do your own math at your own rate.

What every part of the label actually shows

The Federal Trade Commission requires the EnergyGuide label on refrigerators, dishwashers, clothes washers, room air conditioners, and several other major appliances. It is deliberately busy, but only a few zones carry real information. Here is the whole thing decoded:

Label zone	What it means
Top row (maker, model, capacity)	Identifies the exact unit. Capacity matters because the cost range below only compares models of a similar size and type.
Cost range bar	A horizontal scale showing the cheapest and most expensive similar models to run. A triangle marks where this model falls.
Estimated Yearly Operating Cost (big number)	The dollar figure. It is calculated, not measured: yearly kWh multiplied by an assumed national electricity rate.
Estimated Yearly Electricity Use (kWh)	The lab-tested annual consumption. This is the number to trust and the one to carry over to your own calculation.
Fine print at the bottom	States the assumed electricity rate, the usage assumptions, and how many models the cost range is based on.

If your unit is ENERGY STAR certified, the blue logo also appears, but that is a certification, not a number. It tells you the model beat a federal efficiency threshold; it does not tell you the running cost.

How the estimated yearly cost is calculated

There is no meter behind the dollar figure. The FTC takes the tested annual electricity use and multiplies it by a single national average rate it sets and publishes on the label:

Yearly cost = annual kWh × assumed rate per kWh

Take a real unit from our database, the Samsung RT18DG6300, a 17.5 cu ft top-freezer refrigerator. Its tested use is 333 kWh per year. Whatever dollar figure is printed on its label came from multiplying 333 by whatever rate the label assumed that year. That rate is the entire reason two honest sources can quote different costs for the same fridge. The kWh does not move; the rate does.

This is also why the usage fine print matters. A dishwasher label assumes a set number of loads per year and a specific water-heating method. A clothes washer label assumes a load count and whether you heat water electrically or with gas. Wash less than the assumption and your real cost drops below the label. Run twice as many loads and it climbs above.

Why the label's dollars rarely match your bill

The assumed rate on an EnergyGuide label is a national average, and it lags the real market because labels are printed years before you buy. We compute running costs at $0.1856 per kWh, the current US average residential price from the Energy Information Administration. Many older labels assumed a rate well below that, which makes the printed dollar figure look artificially cheap.

Here is the same 333 kWh Samsung fridge costed at several rates, so you can see how much the assumption drives the answer:

Electricity rate	Yearly cost (333 kWh)	Who this is close to
$0.12 / kWh	$40	Older labels, low-cost states like WA or LA
$0.15 / kWh	$50	Many Midwest and Southern states
$0.1856 / kWh	$62	US average (EIA), what we use
$0.30 / kWh	$100	California, New England, Hawaii

Same appliance, same tested efficiency, and the yearly cost ranges from $40 to $100 purely on the price of power. If you live in California or the Northeast, a label that reads "$45 estimated yearly cost" is not lying, it is just using a rate you will never actually pay. Look up your own price on a recent bill, then multiply it by the label's kWh figure. That single step gets you closer to reality than the printed dollars ever will.

How our running cost compares to the label

Our figures use the exact same tested kWh the EnergyGuide label uses, pulled from ENERGY STAR's public certification data, then multiplied by the EIA national rate instead of an older assumed one. For the Samsung above, 333 kWh × $0.1856 lands at $62 per year, and that is the number you will see on its page. The difference between our estimate and the label is never the efficiency of the machine. It is only the rate.

That makes the two documents complementary rather than contradictory. Use the physical label when you are standing in a store and want a fast read on a single unit. Use our numbers when you want a consistent, current-rate comparison across many models, because every appliance on the site is costed at the same $0.1856 so nothing is flattered by an out-of-date assumption. You can also drop the label's kWh number straight into our running-cost calculator with your own local rate to get a figure tailored to your utility.

Reading the cost range bar without getting fooled

The horizontal cost range bar is genuinely useful, but only within its own class. It compares this model against similar models, meaning a comparable size and configuration, not every appliance of that type. A 17 cu ft top-freezer is ranged against other top-freezers, not against a giant French-door unit with an ice maker. So a triangle sitting on the cheap end of the bar tells you the model is efficient for its class, which is exactly the comparison you want when you have already settled on a size.

Where it misleads people is across classes. In our data, refrigerators run from about $8 to $149 a year, with a median near $64, and most of that spread is driven by size and features, not by one model being three times better built than another. A small, efficient beverage fridge and a large family refrigerator can both wear a proud-looking cost range bar while costing wildly different amounts to run. Compare bars only between units you would genuinely cross-shop, then confirm with the raw kWh.

Bottom line: the label is trustworthy where it is specific (the kWh and the class comparison) and soft where it is convenient (the dollar figure). Trust the tested energy use, recompute the cost at your real rate, and treat the big number as a starting point rather than a promise. If you want the full method for a specific machine, see our guides on the cost to run a refrigerator or browse every ranked model in the refrigerators category.