Kitchen appliance energy labels and what they cost to run

Two energy labels are in circulation in Maltese showrooms at the same time, and they are not comparable. If you have just bought a shell property and you are standing in front of a wall of appliances trying to work out which ones will cost you least, the first thing to understand is which scale you are looking at.

Two scales, both current

In 2017 the EU decided to return to a simpler scale running A to G, with A as the best class, because the A+, A++ and A+++ classes added on top of the original scale had become confusing. The rescaled label began appearing in March 2021 and is gradually replacing the old one. Six product groups were rescaled on 1 March 2021, and two of them are kitchen appliances: refrigerators and dishwashers.

Ovens and range hoods were not among them. They still show classes on the A+++ to D scale, under labelling Regulation (EU) 65/2014 and ecodesign Regulation (EU) 66/2014, which have made labels mandatory for both product groups since 2015.

The practical consequence: a class A fridge is in the top class of its scale, while a class A oven sits four steps below A+++ on its. Reading the letters as if they were one system will mislead you. Compare fridges with fridges and ovens with ovens, and when in doubt ignore the letter and read the kWh figure printed underneath it.

What the fridge and dishwasher labels actually show

Fridge and freezer labels, governed by ecodesign Regulation (EU) 2019/2019 and labelling Regulation (EU) 2019/2016, carry the class, the annual energy consumption in kWh, the frozen compartment volume in litres, the chilled compartment volume in litres, and the noise level with its acoustic class. The volumes matter in Maltese apartments, where the usable run of units is often short — a bigger letter on a smaller box is not necessarily the cheaper outcome.

Dishwasher labels show energy per 100 eco cycles rather than a straight annual figure, plus water per cycle, the number of place settings, the duration of the eco programme and the noise level.

Both scales of label can carry extra information beyond the class: noise, water use, capacity, repairability. Every label also carries a QR code linking to the EU product database, EPREL. QR codes have been live on labels since 2021 and EPREL's public search has been available since 2022. If a showroom cannot tell you the model's exact specification, the QR code on the display unit will.

What the oven and hood labels show

An oven label gives the oven type — electric or gas — the cavity volume in litres, and the energy per cycle in both conventional mode and fan-forced mode. Two figures, not one, which is why the class letter alone tells you little: how you cook decides which figure applies to you. Electric ovens are 84% of the EU market.

The Commission's own tips for ovens are worth repeating because they cost nothing: cook several dishes at once, keep the door shut, use fan mode at a lower temperature, and defrost food before cooking. For fridges: keep the door seals clean and airtight, defrost regularly, and thaw frozen food inside the fridge rather than on the counter. For context on how much the ecodesign rules have shifted the baseline, EU fridges used 56% less electricity in 2020 than in 1990.

Turning kWh into euro in Malta

This is where Malta differs from what British buyers expect. REWS publishes residential electricity rates in bands by annual household consumption, not as a single unit price. The rates below carry an effective date of 31 March 2014.

REWS publishes both tables. The page does not define what distinguishes 'Residential' from 'Domestic', so neither will we. REWS also states that the published rates are for information only and that only the rates in the Electricity Connection and Supply Regulations (S.L.545.41) have legal force.

There is also an annual service fee, inclusive of VAT: 65 euro for single phase, 140 euro for three phase at 40 A, and 195 euro for 60 A and above.

The arithmetic

Because the bands are per year of total household consumption, no appliance has its own rate. The marginal rate that a new fridge's consumption is charged at depends on how much electricity the rest of your household already uses. Air conditioning, a pool pump or a heat-pump water heater can push you into a higher band, and the fridge then costs more to run without changing at all.

As arithmetic only, using the Residential column: an appliance whose label says 300 kWh a year, in a household sitting in the lowest band, works out at 300 × 0.1047 = 31.41 euro a year. The same appliance in a household in the 2,001-6,000 kWh band works out at 300 × 0.1298 = 38.94 euro. Same appliance, same label, different house.

Substitute your own appliance's label figure and your own band. We are not going to publish running costs for specific appliances, because the honest answer depends on a number only your own bills can give you.

What the appliances cost to buy

For the purchase side, the kitchens.mt fit-out calculator carries an appliance basket of five appliances at each of four tiers, read from the Malta catalogue of newline.com.mt on 2026-09-05:

The top two tiers are shown on the site as a plus or minus 30 percent range. All of it is indicative — the showroom quote is the figure.

For scale against the rest of the fit-out, the same rate card puts cabinetry at 2419.09, 4782.73, 8525.27 and 15203.45 euro per linear metre across the same four tiers, with a three linear metre minimum. First fix electrics run at 26, 36, 54 and 78 euro per square metre of property floor area, not kitchen area, and first fix plumbing at 22, 30, 46 and 66 euro per square metre on the same basis. Appliances are rarely the largest line.

Two Maltese practicalities

Most showrooms here publish no brand list, so you often cannot tell from outside who stocks which appliance brand. If a specific model matters to you — because you have read its EPREL entry and want that one — ask before you visit rather than after.

Sicily is a ferry ride away and is often cheaper for the same Italian brands. Within the EU, VAT is paid once, in the country of purchase, so a Sicilian purchase is not a VAT saving in itself and does not attract Maltese VAT on arrival. Weigh the price difference against freight, warranty service and the practicalities of a fault six months later. And if the property is in Gozo, every delivery means a ferry — worth asking who pays for it before you sign.