Model Regulation Guidelines Supporting Information For Energy-efficient And Climate-friendly Refrigerating Appliances

This document provides context on the rationale underpinning the Model Regulation Guidelines for Energy-Efficient and Climate-Friendly Refrigerating Appliances. It includes a brief explanation of the scope, product categories, and market and policy trends in energy efficiency and refrigerants. The Model Regulation Guidelines refer to International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) 62552:2015 for testing and measuring energy consumption. Countries need to be familiar with either this standard or other approaches that they intend to pursue for their regulatory frameworks.

Refrigerating appliances expend a considerable amount of electricity during normal use, and there is a significant opportunity to cost-effectively improve energy efficiency and transition to lower global warming potential (GWP) refrigerants. Energy-efficient refrigerating appliances tend to be better insulated and therefore able to maintain temperatures during unstable electricity supply situations compared to inefficient models. United for Efficiency (U4E) has produced Country Savings Assessments (updated as of September 2019) for 150 developing and emerging economies, which project annual electricity savings, greenhouse gas emissions reductions, and utility bill savings for consumers if the countries adopt the Model Regulation Guidelines.¹ The following table draws from the Assessments to provide examples of the estimated annual impacts in 2030 if all countries in the sample regions were to adopt the proposed minimum energy efficiency and refrigerant requirements. Various combinations of countries, beyond the simplified list below, can be considered by reviewing the full set of Country Savings Assessments.