Projected electricity savings from implementing minimum energy efficiency standard for household refrigerators in Malaysia

The Malaysian economy has grown rapidly in the last two decades. This growth has increased the ownership of household electrical appliances, especially refrigerator-freezers. Almost every house in Malaysia owns a refrigerator-freezer. The Malaysia Energy Center considered implementing a minimum energy efficiency standard for household refrigerator-freezers sometime in the coming year. This paper attempts to predict the amount of energy savings in the residential sector by implementing a minimum energy efficiency standard for household refrigerator-freezers. The calculations are based on the growth of refrigerator-freezer ownership data in Malaysian households. By implementing the programs in 2004, about 8722 GWh will be saved in the year 2013. Therefore, efficiency improvement of this appliance will provide a significant impact in future electricity consumption in Malaysia.