Comment by likeabatterycar | Hacker News Reader

Comment by likeabatterycar | Hacker News Reader

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likeabatterycar

> They describe it as being like EnergyStar which suggests they'll have a consumer accessible registry

I've seen Energy Star logos for 30 years and never knew there was a public database, never thought to verify, and I don't think anyone else has either. The only thing Energy Star has been useful for is extracting rebates from utility companies and buying shitty dishwashers which were certain to be worse than what they were replacing.

Verification is useless if no one knows about it, or if the data isn't actionable. I have verified UL mark numbers for questionable products, but they often resolve to some Chinese ODM you've never heard of like 'Xionshang Industrial Electric Company' whose name certainly doesn't match the product label. Do you know the components haven't been swapped out since certification was achieved? Was the product actually sourced from there or counterfeit? You have no way to verify any of that.

UL issues holographic stickers but I've seen those like 10% of the time and probably just as easily faked.

https://www.energystar.gov/ - Here's the registry.

And I'm not saying this will be that useful, just that it's not going to be a sticker and nothing else. That would be truly useless and pretty much just make money for sticker makers.

"Find all the information you need to start shopping for ENERGY STAR certified products, including product details, rebates, and retailers near you."

So, the product search works like a shopping cart site, and has no historical products, only new ones, and helpfully lists the prices.

Who is this meant to benefit?

You want the "Product Specifications & Partner Commitments Search"[0], not the "Product Finder"[1]. Both are available from the top level "Find Products" menu

[0] https://www.energystar.gov/products/spec

[1] https://www.energystar.gov/productfinder

That just shows specifications. I don't see a way to _confirm_ that the device I currently have in my hands, bearing the Energy Star logo, has actually earned it.

Oh, I see where I misunderstood. I agree there doesn't appear to be a built in way to check, given a label, that the label is legit.

However, I was able to at least verify the label on my dishwasher by doing a google search for `site:energystar.gov <model number>` and seeing that that model comes up in the search results.

After some more digging around I think the expectation is that the trust would stem from an assumed effectiveness of the FTC to squash materially misleading advertising. Though even that needs someone to first notice a discrepancy and bother to look into it.

Kinda like how we trust that the nutrition information box on food is accurate because anyone selling food that falsifies that is going to have a bad time when the FDA comes knocking.

Is it possible to find sketchy products? Yeah, but there's often signs they're sketchy. If it's a concern for you, stick to large, established brands from large, established retailers. They're getting scrutinized up down and sideways for this kind of stuff.

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