Cool Savings: Consumers To Benefit From New Refrigerator Efficiency Standards

WASHINGTON, Sept. 16, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Under new refrigerator efficiency standards that went into effect yesterday, consumers can cut utility bills by purchasing a new refrigerator. The Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers (AHAM) developed a website, www.CoolEnergySavings.org, to assist consumers in understanding the U.S. Department of Energy's new energy efficiency standards and the corresponding yellow EnergyGuide labels.  The new standards reduce full-size refrigerator energy consumption by 25 percent, on average, compared to models manufactured 10 years ago.

This is the fourth generation of refrigerator energy efficiency standards since 1987. Energy use and consumer utility bills have dramatically dropped as well. In 1978, the average 18 cu. ft. top mount freezer refrigerator consumed about 2,250 kilowatt hours per year.  Today's top mount refrigerator has a larger average capacity – about 19.7 cu. ft. and uses just 412 kilowatt hours per year.  That equates to an electric utility savings of about $220 per year!

The new federal standards are rigorous and yield dramatic energy and utility cost savings for the consumer.  What is different however about these standards is that it is not just the products' energy efficiency that is changing. The yellow EnergyGuide has been updated too -- with a new look to reflect new energy testing requirements and to update the national average electricity rate of 12 cents per kWh. The www.coolenergysavings.org web site compares the new and old EnergyGuide labels to illustrate what has changed. Only models with similar EnergyGuide labels should be compared.   

Consumers can go to www.CoolEnergySavings.org to learn more about the new standards, find answers to frequently asked questions, and obtain information about recycling their old refrigerator.

The Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers (AHAM) is a not-for-profit trade association representing manufacturers of major, portable and floor care home appliances, and suppliers to the industry and is headquartered in Washington, DC.  You can visit the AHAM web site at http://www.aham.org.

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SOURCE Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers