E NERGY S TAR ® E NERGY S TAR Refrigerators and Freezers Richard H. Karney, US DOE July 18, 2001

History of the E NERGY S TAR Refrigerator Specification

NAECA Standard Congress passed the National Appliance Energy Conservation Act (NAECA) in 1987 NAECA set federal energy standards for products and allowed the Department of Energy to amend and set new energy standards

NAECA set the maximum federal energy consumption for 18 different product classes of refrigerators The original NAECA level applied to models manufactured after January 1, 1990 The standards were amended to be approximately 30% more restrictive for models manufactured after January 1, 1993 The standards were amended again to be approximately another 30% more restrictive for models manufactured after July 1, 2001 NAECA Refrigerator Level

E NERGY S TAR Specification The E NERGY S TAR level was originally set at 20% below the NAECA standard in 1997 E NERGY S TAR covers product classes 3-7 (refrigerator-freezers with automatic defrost) On January 1, 2001 the E NERGY S TAR level changed to 10% below the 2001 NAECA standard On January 1, 2004, the E NERGY S TAR level will change to 15% below the 2001 NAECA standard

Refrigerator Categories Product ClassCurrent NAECA maximum energy use (kWh/year) 3. Top Mount Freezer without through the door ice 9.8 * AV Side Mount Freezer without through the door ice 4.91 * AV Bottom Mount Freezer without through the door ice 4.6 * AV Top Mount Freezer with through the door ice 10.2 * AV Side Mount Freezer with through the door ice 10.1 * AV AV = Adjusted Volume = Fresh Volume * Freezer Volume

E NERGY S TAR Coverage Top freezer models must be at least 12.5 cubic feet in total interior volume to qualify Bottom freezer and side-by-side models must be at least 18.5 cubic feet in total interior volume to qualify The EPA has a specification covering commercial solid door refrigerators and freezers