Developing new test procedures for domestic refrigerators: harmonisation issues and future R&D needs—a review

This paper highlights the salient differences among various test standards for household refrigerators/freezers and identifies the main parameters that play important role in the overall energy consumption of a refrigerating appliance. Further the paper examines the merits and demerits of current test standards for refrigerator-freezers and proposes new guidelines that should be considered to improve them. There is a need to develop a new test procedure that harmonises the basic features of various standards and is simple, repeatable and reproducible. Such a procedure should also represent realistic “real” world energy use, encourage product innovation, capture both the software and hardware developments and facilitate ‘free trade’ among various economies. In order to achieve this, the paper highlights areas where concerted efforts are required for carrying out the requisite research and development work.