Home › Resources ›

New Refrigerator Efficiency Standards Will Save Consumers Money

Share this
Resource Type:
Policy Summary
Image
Author(s): 
Lowell Ungar

The Department of Energy (DOE) on Friday issued important new efficiency standards that will reduce the energy use of most new refrigerators by about 25% compared to existing requirements. These updated standards reflect recommendations made in a consensus agreement by appliance manufacturers, efficiency organizations, and consumer advocates including the Alliance to Save Energy and several of our Associates. This new rule covers home refrigerators, refrigerator-freezers, and freezers and is one of more than ten appliance efficiency standards that DOE is required to set this year.

Thanks to the new standards and their predecessors, a typical new refrigerator in 2014, when the standards take effect, will use about one-fifth of the electricity used by refrigerators in the mid-1970s, yet is larger and includes more features. According to DOE, the new standards will save enough electricity over the next thirty years to power 3.4 million homes and will save consumers billions of dollars.  As DOE continues to work through a large backlog of overdue updates to appliance standards, we look forward to further savings.

 

Average Household Refrigerator Energy Use, Volume, and Price Over Time

From the Appliance Standards Awareness Project

Refrigerator Energy Use

 

For further information