Far from blaming our astronomical bills on the fluctuating prices of electricity and gas. The numbers that emerge from the latest surveys on fleet of household appliances in Italian homes in fact they say something very different. In our homes – a negative Italian record – there are even more 73 million old people, heaving, outdated, energy-intensive household appliances that have an average life expectancy over the age of 12 (source ENEA SIMTE April 2021). And only just over 3% of those installed in homes can, in fact, be traced back to the high classes of the new energy labelling. With a sensational fact: if these devices were replaced by new super efficient ones, bills would drop by 50-60 percent. Word of Enea and Applia Italia (120 associated companies and a turnover of 19 billion euros). It is therefore urgent for both the family budget and the energy budget of our country to replace the old majaps with those equipped with recent energy labels.
The green incentive arrives
To encourage Italian consumers to do so, in recent days, the The PdL – n. 855 February 2, 2023 – well structured and clear, it is titled “Green incentives for the purchase of large household appliances with high energy efficiency with simultaneous recycling of obsolete appliances" and intends promote energy efficiency in homes, encourage the reduction of consumption by replacing old appliances, supporting the incomes of less well-off families. As well as promoting the competitiveness of the Italian industry, with positive effects also on the national components, distribution, sales and home furnishings supply chains. Since the proposal would provide for the delivery of the old household appliance, Regular disposal of WEEE would be guaranteed with great benefits for the environmental policy of our country.
Applia Italia: “Laudable initiative, discount up to 30%
“In our opinion it is – he declares to FIRSTonline Marco Learnato, general manager of Applia Italy – by a laudable initiative because it comes from listening to and understanding the energy saving needs of families, the need to achieve energy efficiency within homes and from the awareness that the Italian household appliance industry has a great tradition but also a value to be preserved for the future.
The Eco Incentive would be recognized for the purchase only of household appliances equipped with the new energy label which came into force in 2021. Efficiency and energy saving are the starting point of the measure. The benefit (up to 30% on the purchase price) would, in fact, only be valid for refrigerators, coolers, washing machines, and dishwashers belonging to the highest energy classes, and would only be triggered by scrapping - and therefore reintroducing over 95% of the material into the production cycle - at the same time a similar appliance with more than 10 years of life. When the new energy labels arrive for other domestic appliances it will be natural to extend the measure to them too".
Savings of up to 200 euros
In detail of Gusmeroli's proposal, the incentive is expected to consist of one 30% discount on the purchase price, up to a maximum amount of 200 euros (or 100 euros for those with an ISEE income of more than 25.000 euros) for class A washer-dryers, class C or higher dishwashers and class D or higher refrigerators and freezers.
The proposal would provide for the establishment of a fund with an allocation of 400 million euros per year for a three-year period to finance the provision of the benefit.
The rapid approval of this proposal therefore becomes particularly relevant for the economy of our country and families; almost 60% of household electricity consumption is in fact attributable to household appliances and over 40% of these are attributable to just four appliances: refrigerators, freezers, washing machines and dishwashers (according to ENEA data).
Consider that - taking the washing machine as an example - the replacement of a product that is more than 10 years old reduces consumption by 60%., guaranteeing a saving of around 200 kWh/year, equivalent to a bill saving of around €150/year (but this depends on the average cost of electricity). The same goes for refrigerators, freezers and dishwashers which, with savings between 50% and 70%, lead to possible savings in the overall bill of an average Italian family of €500/year. The savings are evidently cumulative over the entire lifespan of the product.
The APPLIA Italia campaign
In September 2023 APPLiA Italia promoted a campaign in the main Italian newspapers aimed at informing about the benefits deriving from replacing an old household appliance with a new one. First of all one greater protection for the environment and for the country's energy security, concrete support for the national supply chain which has 145 thousand direct and indirect employees.
But there is very little left of Italian
There is a very important question mark however: the proposal leaves cooking appliances out and air treatment (hoods) two Italian sectors, or rather, entirely Italian. Because, while the refrigerator, washing machine, dryer and dishwasher factories present in our country now all belong to foreign multinationals (Chinese, Turkish, American), the companies and production sites of kitchens, ovens and built-in hobs and hoods are truly and entirely made in Italy. And with export records close to 80-90 percent that no other sector can boast.
However, it is true that the efficiency of these appliances is still far from the high standards achieved by the labels and consumption of other large appliances. Not only that: i electric ovens they still consume too much and the transition from gas to induction cooking, imposed by two foreign multinationals that dominate the induction hob market, has significantly increased global electricity consumption for cooking.
Another necessary observation that our duty as reporters requires us to report: since the advantage would be spread over the supply chain, it would also reward those products sold on our market but manufactured elsewhere. That is, a wealth that would go outside our country to a significant extent. It is enough to look at the very confidential quotas of majap sales in Italy to understand these delicate "steps". Just one example is illuminating, that of the sales of free standing fridges and freezers: it is the Koreans, Samsung with 24-25 percent and LG with 15-16 percent respectively, who dominate the Italian (and European) market . Which do not have any production center in our country.
