Refrigerator, Refrigerator-Freezer and Freezers Rulemaking
This page describes rulemaking activities and regulations regarding energy efficiency for residential refrigerators, refrigerator-freezers, and freezers.
Statutory Authority
The Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA) (42 U.S.C. 6291, et seq.) established the Energy Conservation Program for Consumer Products Other than Automobiles, covering major household appliances including residential refrigerators, refrigerator-freezers, and freezers. The National Appliance Energy Conservation Act of 1987 subsequently amended EPCA by establishing energy conservation standards for residential refrigerators, refrigerator-freezers, and freezers. The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA) then required the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to review and amend energy conservation standards for residential refrigerators, refrigerator-freezers, and freezers. DOE is currently developing amended standards pursuant to 42 U.S.C. 6295(b)(4).
Some of the following documents are available as Adobe Acrobat PDFs. Download Acrobat Reader.
Rulemakings Under Development
- Energy Conservation Standards Preliminary Technical Support Document
- Energy Conservation Standards Preliminary Analytical Spreadsheets
- Energy Conservation Standards Framework Document
Past Rulemakings
- Energy Efficiency Standards for Refrigerators, Refrigerator-Freezers and Freezers Technical Support Document, October 2005 (PDF 1.1 MB)
- Energy Conservation Program for Consumer Products: Test Procedure for Refrigerators and Refrigerator-Freezers Direct Final Rule, Federal Register, March 7, 2003 (PDF 110 KB)
- Energy Conservation Program for Consumer Products: Test Procedure for Refrigerators and Refrigerator-Freezers Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, Federal Register, March 7, 2003 (PDF 54 KB)
- Energy Conservation Program for Consumer Products: Energy Conservation Standards for Refrigerators, Refrigerator-Freezers and Freezers Final Rule, Federal Register, April 28, 1997 (PDF 111 KB)
Proper Implementation of Refrigerator-Freezer Test Procedure
On December 18, 2009, DOE issued additional guidance regarding the application of the current test procedures for testing energy consumption of refrigerator-freezers with automatic ice makers. DOE issued this guidance to ensure the consistent application of the current test procedure to refrigerator-freezers with French doors, bottom-mounted freezers, and through-the-door (TTD) ice service (French door TTD models). (PDF 44 KB)
In January 2009, DOE issued a public statement on the proper implementation of the DOE refrigerator-freezer test procedure, including the industry test procedure which is incorporated by reference (American National Standards Institute/Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers Standard HRF-1-1979, Household Refrigerators, Combination Refrigerator-Freezers and Household Freezers) (PDF 12 KB).
Contact Information
Lucas Adin
Project Manager
202-287-1317