New Refrigerator Standards

The U.S. Department of Energy has finalized new energy efficiency standards for refrigerators and freezers that will take effect on July 1, 2001. The new standards will mandate approximately a 30% reduction in energy consumption for the most common types of refrigerators compared to the 1993 standards that are currently in effect. Under the new standards, a 22-cubic-foot (0.62 m3) refrigerator with automatic defrost will use about 535 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per year, compared with 767 kWh for an average model of that size today. By comparison, an average 20-cubic-foot (0.57 m3) model in 1978 consumed 1,548 kWh per year. The new standards are expected to add about $80 to the cost of a 22-cubic-foot refrigerator but should save $20 per year in electricity. According to an article in the April 24, 1997

New York Times, the change will eventually result in savings equivalent to the output of eight large power plants.