The company pleaded guilty to five charges. Photo: 123RF
A Lower Hutt company has pleaded guilty to failing to meet energy efficiency regulations for air conditioners sold last year.
Kumars Autoservices was prosecuted after testing of its Mitsu-Fuji branded air conditioner units showed they did not meet requirements.
The company pleaded guilty to five charges including importing and selling units that did not comply with energy efficiency standards, failing to label units with energy efficiency information as required, and failing to supply energy efficiency information requested by the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA).
EECA's general manager of policy and regulation Murray Bell said the units could have cost consumers $700 to $1400 more to run over the life of the product.
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He said minimum energy performance standards were designed to save households and businesses power.
Anyone who manufactures or imports products covered by the regulations is required to ensure their products meet the standards, and to label them correctly.
Since 2002, the programme had saved enough with the scheme to power about two-and-a-half million homes for a year, Bell said.
"The point is that having energy efficiency regulations is all about protecting the consumer. The aim is that we prevent inefficient products being sold and we do that through the minimum energy performance standards.
"Then for those that are allowed to be sold, we have labelling. The labelling is to give consumers really good information so they make a well-informed decision to buy the most efficient product they can."
Bell said prosecution was a last resort.
"We would prefer to collaborate in order to raise standards by supporting businesses to comply. In this case, Kumars Autoservices didn't engage with us, even though they had been provided test results on their air conditioners and issued a letter of warning."
People who bought an air conditioner are advised to get in contact with the retailer.
Kumars Autoservices will be sentenced later this month.
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