Australia's innovative new approach to energy labelling of refrigerators - moving closer towards normal use - Dr Lloyd Harrington, Energy ...

Australia’s innovative new
approach to energy labelling of
 refrigerators – moving closer
      towards normal use

                      Dr Lloyd Harrington,
                        Energy Efficient
                      Strategies, Australia

Overview
• Briefly examines the international context for
  energy efficiency programs for household
  refrigerators
• Examines the Australian context for labelling and
  MEPS
• Explores historical testing approaches and why the
  new IEC global test method has been adopted
• Outlines labelling elements that are being retained
• Documents what changes are being introduced in
  order to make the label energy closer to normal use
  and to reward products that are most efficient
  under these operating conditions

International Policy Context
• A global review of labelling and energy efficiency
  standards in 2014 (also called Minimum Energy
  Performance Standards or MEPS) found that
  refrigerators were the most regulated product
  around the world
• Some 75 countries had mandatory or voluntary
  programs for refrigerators with over 200 programs
• Many countries use both comparative labelling and
  MEPS together (e.g. Australia, USA, Canada,
  Europe, China, Japan and many Asian countries)
• Australia first introduced mandatory energy
  labelling in 1986 and was one of the first countries
  to do so after Canada and the USA

International
 Context
• See report – available from
  IEA 4E – see
  http://www.iea-
  4e.org/publications

Australian context
• Australia has a population of around 25 million, with
  around 9 million households
• Climates span cool temperate to humid tropical to hot
  dry arid
• The majority of the population is concentrated on the
  coastal fringe in milder climates
• Refrigerator ownership is around 1.3 per household
  (steady): stock ~ 12 million
• Freezer ownership is around 0.4 (declining): stock ~ 3.6
  million
• Addition 2 million stock in commercial sector (domestic
  purposes e.g. offices)
• Total energy consumed is around 25 PJ (steady to
  declining)

Regulatory framework
• Energy labelling started in Australia in 1986
• Product energy efficiency is currently regulated
  nationally under the Greenhouse and Energy
  Minimum Standards Act 2012
• All products must be registered with the government
  prior to sale
• A complying test report must be supplied with the
  registration
• Around 200 performance elements have to be
  submitted as part of the registration process
• A public database of all current models and their
  performance parameters is available in
  www.energyrating.gov.au
• There is an active verification and enforcement
  program (check testing)

Minimum Energy Performance
  Standards (MEPS)
• MEPS is a program measure to eliminate the
  least efficient products from the market
• Australia introduced MEPS for refrigerators
  in 1999, the same year as Europe
• MEPS levels were upgraded in 2005
  (matching US 2001 standards)
• MEPS levels are also being upgraded again in
  2021 (matching US 2014 standards)

What do want in a test procedure?
An ideal test procedure is:
• Reproducible
• Repeatable
• Produces measurements of appliance energy
  consumption and service provision that are
  representative of those in real use
• Inexpensive
• Universally recognised (international alignment)
• It can be hard to find the right balance between
  these factors and some compromises are needed

Why are test conditions important?
Designers and suppliers optimise performance at
test conditions
If these are far away from conditions of normal
use, there can be (at least) two problems:
• The energy on the label will not be reflective of
  normal use
• Relative energy consumption of different
  appliances may rank differently (resulting in a
  label that is misleading)

Historical international test
  procedures
• Everyone understands that ambient temperature
  strongly affects the energy consumption of
  refrigerators
• However, the desire for a “simple” test procedure
  resulted in energy measurement at a single
  ambient in most countries (except Japan)
• The rationale for an elevated ambient was to
  compensate for user interactions – this has been
  shown to be a very poor approach
• A single ambient is unable to reflect regional
  climate and usage patterns and this encouraged
  divergence from the ISO standards

Impact of Ambient Temperature

Limitations of the current AU
testing approach
• Different types of products respond very differently
  to changes in ambient temperature and these
  effects cannot be estimated from an energy
  measurement at a single ambient temperature
• While giving an accurate comparison of
  refrigerators in a hot room, the measured energy
  does not reflect normal use very well
• A static closed door test does not provide any
  assessment of how efficiently an appliance can
  extract heat from user interactions such as door
  openings and insertion of warm food

IEC62552-3 global test method
• New IEC62552-3 global test method for
  refrigerators was published in February 2015
• Energy test method is a so called “LEGO
  Block” approach
• Each of the critical components of energy
  consumption are separately quantified and
  reported
• Regions assemble and weight the
  components to best reflect local energy
  consumption requirements

IEC62552-3 available test elements
• Steady state power at ambient temperatures
  of 16°C and 32°C;
• Incremental defrost and recovery energy and
  temperature shift at ambient temperatures
  of 16°C and 32°C;
• Defrosting interval at ambient temperatures
  of 16°C and 32°C;
• Ambient controlled anti-condensation
  heaters;
• Load processing efficiency at ambient
  temperatures of 16°C and 32°C

Advantages of the new IEC test method
• Regions can selected from the suite of
  possible tests in order to estimate the energy
  consumption during normal use
• All regional requirements are customised
  using post-test adjustments and weighting of
  standardised test elements
• The standard has state-of-the-art approaches
  for assessing product stability to ensure
  accurate results and fast testing times
• There are also sophisticated interpolation
  approaches included

Why is energy labelling important?
• Energy is an important attribute that dictates
  the total operating cost of the appliance
• Energy consumption of refrigerators is
  significant
• Cost of energy is high – typically more than
  the purchase price of the appliance over its
  life
• Energy cannot assessed by inspection
• There can be large differences in energy
  consumed by similar appliances

Impact of MEPS and labelling
(CLASP Standards and Labels Guidebook)
http://clasp.ngo/en/Resources/Resources/StandardsLabelsGuidebook

AU Energy label details
• Australia uses a comparative energy label that
  shows the estimated energy together with a
  comparative efficiency rating, expressed as stars
  (more stars = more efficient)
• There have been 4 separate energy labels used at
  different times over 35 years (see next slide)
• In 2000 and 2010, the star rating system was re-
  graded to take account of changes in the market
  over time, especially the impact of MEPS
• The basic label design has changed little since 2000

AU Label transitions

• Key changes for 2021 onwards – larger stars in the upper
  arch, total volume shown below the model number,
  AS/NZS IEC standard cited, website shown in a black bar at
  the base of the label

Key labelling elements retained in 2021
• The reference line (called the base energy
  consumption) is based on the adjusted volume to the
  power of 0.67 to better reflect efficiency across
  different sizes
• Three meta-groups have separate reference lines
  (refrigerators, refrigerator-freezers and separate
  freezers) as each one provides comparable services
  and can sensibly be compared by consumers to
  undertake a similar task
• Analysis has always found that a meaningful reference
  line across all meta-groups is not possible
• All stars rating increments are defined as a fixed
  percentage reduction in energy per additional star
  (unlike Europe, which can have very uneven EEI values
  across label grades)

Key labelling elements changing in 2021

 A range of very important changes are being
 introduced in 2021 – the main objective of these is
 to better reflect likely energy consumption during
 normal use and to reward products that are more
 efficient under these operating conditions

Key elements changing 2021 (1)
• Steady state energy measurements at both 16°C
  and 32°C will be weighted to better reflect typical
  indoor temperatures in Australia (nominally 22°C)
• This is expected to reward inverter driven products,
  which generally perform much more efficiently at
  lower ambient temperatures
• Defrosting data will be adjusted to reflect the lower
  ambient operating conditions but there will also be
  some impact on defrosts from user interactions
• Detailed analysis of field data has shown that in-
  use adjustments to defrost energy are required to
  make the IEC values more realistic (in the lab
  energy per defrost is lower than in the home)

Key elements changing 2021 (2)
• User interaction is being included to reflect normal use
  – nominal user heat loads of 0.75 Wh/litre per day for
  unfrozen compartments and 0.25 Wh/litre per day for
  frozen compartments reflect field data measurements
  on 300 appliances
• The measured IEC load processing efficiency at 32°C is
  used to calculate the impact of these user interactions
• Suppliers also have the option of providing load
  processing efficiency at 16°C in order to calculate an
  average load processing efficiency for the product
• In the short term, a default COP can be allocated as a
  function of the rated compressor COP, but this value is
  generally very low and is only offered during the
  transition to reduce testing burden

Key elements changing 2021 (3)
• Adjusted volume is still used for labelling, but the
  adjustment factors are now calculated at 22°C to
  better reflect typical use
• A new term called “normalised volume” (which is
  generally close to the actual volume) is now used
• The normalised volume is scaled to the power of 0.67
  to better reflect surface area to volume changes with
  product size, as surface area is a key energy driver
• The energy reduction per additional star has been
  reduced slightly (from 23% to 18%) to provide better
  efficiency differentiation on a market that is strongly
  impacted by MEPS at the high energy side and where
  technological limits are limited on the low energy side

Future possible improvements
• As the energy parameters that are used to
  calculate the energy labelling details are submitted
  with the product registration, in future an
  interactive map which estimates the likely energy
  consumption of products in different climates may
  be available
• This will allow consumers to more accurately
  compare different products in their specific climate
  and may also allow adjustment of under
  interactions as a function of household size

Conclusions
• Australia has had a successful energy labelling
  program for over 30 years
• This is regularly reviewed and upgraded to keep
  abreast of technology, market changes and the
  impact of new MEPS
• Changes in 2021 will include adoption of the new
  global IEC test method and estimation of energy at
  close to normal use conditions in Australia
• This will reward products that are most efficient
  under normal use
• It is expected that inverter driven compressors will
  generally do very well under the new system

Thank you for your attention

References
Alissi, MS, Ramadhyani, S & Schoenhals, RJ 1988, ‘Effects of ambient temperature, ambient humidity, and door
openings on energy consumption of a household refrigerator-freezer’, ASHRAE Transactions, vol. 94, pp. 1714–
1736
AS/NZS4474 2018, Household refrigerating appliances—Energy labelling and minimum energy performance
standards requirements, Standards Australia, Sydney, Australia
E3 2017, Decision Regulation Impact Statement – Household Refrigerators and Freezers, Department of the
Environment and Energy, Canberra, Australia, retrieved from http://www.energyrating.gov.au/news/decision-
regulation-impact-statement-household-refrigerators-and-freezers
Energy Efficient Strategies 2011, Paper 2: Road Map for MEPS3 in Australia and NZ – Issues for Stakeholders in
the Alignment with US MEPS 2014, Canberra, Australia, retrieved from
http://www.energyrating.gov.au/document/discussion-paper-paper-2-roadmap-meps-3-australia-and-new-
zealand
Energy Efficient Strategies 2012, Household Refrigeration Paper 4: Technical Support Document on MEPS and
Labelling for 2015 for Energy-using Refrigeration Equipment, Department of Climate Change and Energy
Efficiency, Canberra, Australia, retrieved from http://www.energyrating.gov.au/document/household-
refrigeration-paper-4-technical-support-document-meps-and-labelling-2015-energy
Energy Efficient Strategies & Maia Consulting 2014, Energy Standards and Labelling Programs Throughout the
World in 2013, Department of Industry, Canberra, retrieved from http://www.iea-4e.org/publications
George Wilkenfled and Associates 1993, Benefits and Costs of Implementing Minimum Energy Performance
Standards for Household Electrical Appliances in Australia, State Electricity Commission of Victoria, Melbourne,
Australia
George Wilkenfled and Associates 2001, Regulatory Impact Statement: Revised Minimum Energy Performance
Standards for Household Refrigerators and Freezers, Australian Greenhouse Office, Canberra, Australia
GfK Marketing 2015, Appliance sales and price data (unpublished data), Sydney, Australia
Goodson, MP & Bullard, CW 1994, Refrigerator/Freezer System Modeling, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration
Center, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

References
Grimes, JW, Mulroy, W & Shomaker, BL 1977, ‘Effect of usage conditions on refrigerator-freezer and freezer
energy consumption’, ASHRAE Transactions, vol. Volume 83 Part 1.
Harrington, L 2015, Household Refrigeration Appliances: New Star Rating Algorithm Proposal for the IEC Test
Method, Department of Industry, Innovation and Science, Canberra, Australia, retrieved from
http://www.energyrating.gov.au/document/report-household-refrigeration-appliances-new-star-rating-
algorithm-proposal-iec-test
Harrington, L 2018, ‘Prediction of the energy consumption of refrigerators during use’, retrieved from
http://hdl.handle.net/11343/213357
Harrington, L, Aye, L & Fuller, R 2018a, ‘Impact of room temperature on energy consumption of household
refrigerators: Lessons from analysis of field and laboratory data’, Applied Energy, vol. 211, pp. 346–357
Harrington, L, Aye, L & Fuller, R 2018b, ‘Opening the door on refrigerator energy consumption: quantifying the
key drivers in the home’, Energy Efficiency, vol. 11, no. 6, pp. 1519–1539, retrieved from
https://doi.org/10.1007/s12053-018-9642-8
Harrington, L, Aye, L & Fuller, R 2018c, ‘Energy impacts of defrosting in household refrigerators: Lessons from
field and laboratory measurements’, International Journal of Refrigeration, vol. 86, pp. 480–494.
Harrington, L, Aye, L, Fuller, R & Hepwoth, G 2019, ‘Peering into the cabinet: quantifying the energy impact of
door openings and food loads in household refrigerators during normal use’, International Journal of
Refrigeration, vol. 104, pp. 437–454, retrieved from
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140700719302415
Harrington, L & Wilkenfeld, DG 1997, ‘Appliance Efficiency Programs in Australia: Labelling and Standards’, Energy
and Buildings, vol. 26.
IEC TR 63061 2017, Adjusted volume calculation for refrigerating appliances, International Electrotechnical
Commission, Geneva.
IEC62552-1 2015, Household refrigerating appliances - Characteristics and test methods - Part 1: General
requirements, International Electrotechnical Commission, Geneva.
IEC62552-2 2015, Household refrigerating appliances - Characteristics and test methods - Part 2: Performance
requirements, International Electrotechnical Commission, Geneva.

References
IEC62552-3 2015, Household refrigerating appliances - Characteristics and test methods - Part 3: Energy
consumption and volume, International Electrotechnical Commission, Geneva.
JIS-C9607 1986, Household electric refrigerators, refrigerator-freezers and freezers, Japan Standards Association,
Tokyo.
JIS-C9801 2006, Household refrigerating appliances - Characteristics and test methods, Japanese Standards
Association, Tokyo.
Klinckenberg Consultants 2009, Global Carbon Impacts of Energy Using Products, Meersen, Netherlands.
Koa, JY & Kelly, GE 1996, ‘Factors affecting the energy consumption of two refrigerator-freezers’, ASHRAE
Transactions, vol. 102 Part 2.
McNeil, MA, Letschert, V & de la Rue du Can, S 2008, Global Potential of Energy Efficiency Standards and
Labeling Programs, Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California.
Meier, AK & Heinemeier, K; 1988, ‘Energy use of household refrigerators: a comparison of laboratory and field
use’, ASHRAE Transactions, vol. 94, pp. 1737–1744.
Negrão, COR & Hermes, CJL 2011, ‘Energy and cost savings in household refrigerating appliances: A simulation-
based design approach’, Applied Energy, vol. 88, pp. 3051–3060.
Rao, ND & Ummel, K 2017, ‘White goods for white people? Drivers of electric appliance growth in emerging
economies’, Energy Research and Social Science, vol. 27, pp. 106–116.
US Department of Energy 2012, Energy Efficiency Program for Consumer Products: Test Procedures for
Residential Refrigerators, Refrigerator-Freezers, and Freezers, US Government Printing Office, Washington DC.
US Department of Energy 2018, PART 430—ENERGY CONSERVATION PROGRAM FOR CONSUMER PRODUCTS,
retrieved from https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CFR-2018-title10-vol3/pdf/CFR-2018-title10-vol3-
part430.pdf