DOE Proposes New Energy Standard for Refrigerators; Part of Broad Effort to Increase Appliance Efficiency in the U.S.

Raising the Bar for Refrigerator Efficiency

Advocacy groups and appliance manufacturers hailed a 25 percent increase in energy efficiency for most new refrigerators, starting in 2014, thanks to new proposed efficiency standards that the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) submitted for public comment on September 27th.

According to the proposed rule, a typical new 20-cubic-foot refrigerator with the freezer on top would use about 390 kilowatt hours (kWh) per year, down from about 900 kWh/year in 1990 and about 1,700 kWh/year in the early 1970s. On a national basis, the new standards would, over 30 years, save 4.5 quads of energy, or roughly enough to meet the total energy needs of one-fifth of all U.S. households for a year. Over the same period, the standards could save consumers about $18.5 billion. DOE will finalize the standards by year's end, and they would take effect in 2014.

Even though refrigerators have become much more energy efficient, they still account for about 10 percent of household electricity use. With the new standards, consumers will not only save energy, they'll also have a better picture of total energy use, because the ratings will include energy consumption for automatic ice makers.

The following table shows the percent energy savings achieved by the proposed standards relative to current standards for select categories:

Unified Front on Appliance Efficiency Gets Things Done in Washington

The proposed standards are the first step in the department's implementation of guidance affecting six major categories of home appliances. Recommendations for new minimum efficiency standards, tax credits and ENERGY STAR incentives for smart appliances were proposed to DOE in July by a group of appliance manufacturers and advocacy groups, including the Alliance to Save Energy.

Based on the Energy Efficient and Smart Appliance Agreement of 2010, home appliance manufacturers and efficiency, environmental and consumer advocates have agreed to jointly pursue with Congress and the administration new standards for six categories of home appliances (refrigerators, freezers, clothes washers, clothes dryers, dishwashers and room air conditioners), as well as a recommendation that ENERGY STAR qualification criteria incorporate credit for Smart Grid capability and a package of targeted tax credits aimed at fostering the market for super-efficient appliances.

"The consensus standards not only save consumers a huge amount of energy and money, they also save DOE the energy, time, and money that a contentious rulemaking process can require," states Andrew deLaski, executive director of the Appliance Standards Awareness Project (ASAP) in their recent press release on the proposed standards.

While either DOE or Congress can act on the consensus standards, the extension of the manufacturers’ tax credit for super-efficient appliances requires new legislation. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and DOE will consider the recommendation to jump start the Smart Grid through incentives for the deployment of smart appliances through the ENERGY STAR program.