Frankly, it’s not normal to carry around an energy meter when you’re shopping for electrical appliances. Most people read the electrical ratings label, especially if they are familiar with watts and volts . At least the government has made bigger appliance purchases a little easier  with the "Energy Guide" program. These labels are mandatory and give comparison data for similar-sized appliances with similar features. 

Some of the most important details on an Energy Guide label are provided as a graph. The left-to-right bar graph that shows the amount of energy consumed by similar models.

The left part shows the average-usage energy consumption (kWh/year) of the most energy-efficient appliance. The right side shows the average-usage energy consumption (kWh/year) of the least energy-efficient appliance. An example Energy Guide graph shows 189kWh of energy consumed for the most energy-efficient appliance while the least energy-efficient uses 1,032kWh. Ponder these figures briefly: that’s two electrical appliances of the same size and class, but one uses about 5½ times the energy for the same task!

If you assume a 10-cent cost per kWh:

Efficient washing machine = 189 kWh x $0.10 = $19 per year.

Inefficient washing machine = 1,032 kWh x $0.10 = $103 per year.

Now imagine that your washing machine lasts 10 years – you’d save $840 by buying the efficient one, even if electricity prices didn’t rise!

The triangle pointer on the EnergyGuide label’s graph indicates the energy consumed by the labeled model compared to the most- and least-efficient models of the same class. When the pointer is closer to the graph’s left side, the operating costs are lower.

Taking a sample label from a Sears’ catalog front-loading washing machine. The label shows the Staber horizontal-axis machine to be the most efficient unit, although it costs twice as much and is only 1% more efficient. Notably, the least efficient model costs much more than Sears’ own high-efficiency model.