How ratings & comparisons work

1 · Comparison bars (within a comparison)

On a comparison, each bar is relative to the appliances you selected. For a spec, we take the smallest and largest value across your set and place each appliance between them:

fill% = 10 + 90 × (value − min) / (max − min)

Direction-aware: for capacity, spin speed and warranty higher is better; for energy use, water use, noise and price lower is better, so the bar is mirrored. A 10% floor keeps the weakest value visible. It answers one question: "of these appliances, which is strongest on this spec?"

2 · Winners (the ✓)

The check mark marks the genuinely best published value in that row, the maximum for higher-is-better specs, the minimum for lower-is-better. Neutral specs (colour, installation type) are never crowned. The header tally ("wins 4 / 6") simply counts decided rows.

3 · Energy class (A–G)

The EU energy label's A–G rating is ordinal, not numeric: we score A as 1 and G as 7 and treat lower as better for winner and bar math. Because the A–G scale means something different for each appliance category, we only ever compare energy class within the same category, which our same-category compare rule guarantees.

4 · Class percentile bars (on a product page)

On a single appliance's page the bar shows where it ranks among all appliances of the same category for that spec, for example "80th percentile in category" means it out-specs 80% of washing machines on capacity. Direction-aware, same as above.

5 · Estimated annual running cost

Where an appliance publishes an energy-label figure, we compute an estimated annual running cost: energy per cycle × standard cycles/year × tariff for per-cycle appliances (washing machines, dishwashers, tumble dryers, ovens), or annual energy × tariff for continuous appliances like refrigerators, using a single default tariff (currently €0.40/kWh electricity, €4.0/m³ water, an approximate German household average, as of 2026-07). This is a CHA-computed estimate, not a manufacturer-stated figure — it never appears unless the appliance's own spec page has the energy figure it's built from, and it is never invented for an appliance without one. Use the running-cost calculator to recompute it with your own real tariff.

6 · Missing values

We only publish specs taken from manufacturer official product and datasheet pages. Where a manufacturer does not publish a value, we show "N/A" rather than guessing or counting it as zero. We never invent a number to make an entry look more complete.

Affiliate links

Some appliance pages may in future show "Where to buy" links to retailers. If you follow one of those links and make a purchase, we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. This has no bearing on the specs or comparisons shown: specifications are always sourced independently from manufacturer product and datasheet pages, before and regardless of any affiliate relationship, and a retailer paying us nothing would show up in a comparison exactly the same way as one that does.

AI content disclosure

The appliance spec pages and comparison bars are built entirely from manufacturer official data and deterministic math, no AI involved. Our Blog and News articles are different: they are researched and drafted with AI language-model assistance, working from this site's own verified spec database and from cited public sources, and are reviewed before publishing. Every such article is labelled at the byline. Nothing on this site fabricates a fact, a quote, or a source, AI-assisted or not.

Sources

Specifications are taken from manufacturer official product and datasheet pages; each appliance links to its source. Spotted an error? Appliances carry a verification flag and are continuously refreshed from source pages.

Where a price trend appears on a product page, it comes from a manufacturer-page price we capture and date-stamp daily. A trend only shows once we have enough history to say something real (currently at least 3 snapshots spanning 3+ weeks) — a brand-new appliance in our catalog won't show one yet, that's expected, not a data gap.

Cite this page

Researchers and shoppers are welcome to cite our data. Please use one of the formats below and link to the specific appliance or comparison page you referenced.

CompareHomeAppliances. (2026). How ratings & comparisons work. https://www.comparehomeappliances.com/methodology/

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  author  = {CompareHomeAppliances},
  title   = {How ratings & comparisons work},
  year    = {2026},
  url     = {https://www.comparehomeappliances.com/methodology/},
  note    = {Accessed: \today}
}