Understanding the water & energy ratings on home appliances

For a number of years most countries have a policy of requiring domestic appliances to be issued with a water & energy rating to allow consumers to easily compare the efficiency of different appliances. In Australia their are 2 seperate departments that manage the ratings,  Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency (Energy Ratings) and the Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communitiesis  (Water Ratings) are responsible for managing the process of labelling appliances with the respective star ratings.

The water & energy lables are designed to assist consumers in their purchasing decisions. The labels should look something like the images below.

Do I repair or replace my broken appliance?

It is Murphy’s law that “Things go wrong when you can least afford it!” A broken appliance generally happens at the most inconvenient time. You have a dinner party organised and your oven breaks down; Your fridge stops working in the middle of summer when all you want is a cold drink; You have mountains of washing and your washing machine stops.