Requirements for Refrigerators and Freezers - Energy Labelling and MEPS

Refrigerators and freezers (and their combinations) are regulated for energy labelling in Australia. They are also regulated for MEPS (minimum efficiency standards). The requirements for energy labelling and MEPS are set out in AS/NZS 4474.2.

Product Definition: Refrigerators, freezers and refrigerator-freezers which intended for household or similar use and which:

operate using the vapour compression cycle; and
use mains electricity (230/240 Volts at 50 Hz) as the primary power source.

Test Standards: Note that all energy labelling standards for refrigerators and freezers are published jointly by Standards Australia and Standards New Zealand.

AS/NZS4474: Performance of household electrical appliances- Refrigerating appliances Part 1: Energy Consumption and Performance

AS/NZS4474: Performance of household electrical appliances- Refrigerating appliances Part 2: Energy labelling and minimum energy performance standard requirements

Part 1 of the standard defines the test procedures for the determination of energy consumption and performance of refrigerators, freezers and refrigerator-freezers in Australia.

Part 2 of the standard sets out the requirements for energy labelling of refrigerators, freezers and refrigerator-freezers in Australia. An approved Energy Label for refrigerators must be displayed on all products which are offered for sale in Australia.

These standards can be purchased from Standards Australia.

Find out how to make an application for energy labelling and MEPS.

Overview of the Test Procedure for Refrigerators

Products are classified into one of nine Groups which are defined in the standard. A number of performance requirements must be met by refrigerators, freezers and refrigerator-freezers before being tested for energy consumption. These include:

Volume - manufacturer declared values must be within defined tolerances of the measured compartment volumes.
Pull down test - the unit is left off in an ambient temperature of 43°C with the doors open, the doors are then closed and the unit is switched on. The unit must reach certain internal temperatures within each compartment (as specified for its Group) after a period of 6 hours (including any compressor trips). This test is originally based on the US AHAM HRF-1 pull down test.
Temperature Operation Test - the unit must be able to maintain acceptable internal temperatures in each compartment (as specified for its Group) under external ambient temperatures of 10°C, 32°C and 43°C. This test is identical to the ISO Temperature Operation Test.

Energy consumption is measured at specified internal compartment target temperatures (as specified for its Group) while operating at an ambient temperature of 32°C. During the energy consumption test, the freezer compartment does not contain test packages and any automatic defrost mechanism is allowed to operate. Energy consumption is measured over a whole number of defrost cycles and there are separate procedures for adaptive defrost systems (where time between defrosts exceeds 24 hours). There are no door openings in the test procedure. All tests are undertaken with a power supply at 240 Volts and 50 Hz.

Amendment 1 of AS/NZS 4474.1 (released 17 December 2001) introduces a number of changes to the test procedure as follows:

Products that comply with the forthcoming MEPS 2005 requirements may be tested at 230V.
Adaptive defrost definition has been revised to include products that have a defrost cycle of >24 hours for the energy consumption test and >36 hours under the least onerous setting at an ambient of 32°C. Adaptive defrost models are given an additional 5% allowance in the 2005 MEPS level.
Any sequence of events that occurs before every activation of the defrost heater is considered to be the start of the defrost cycle.
Group 5 has been broken into Group 5B (bottom freezer) and 5T (usually top freezer).

The Preface of AS/NZS 4474.2-2001 describes the recent changes in the refrigerator MEPS levels in Australia.

Note that energy consumption values measured to the Australian Standard will be different to values measured under other test procedures. The Foreword of AS/NZS 4474.1 outlines the major differences between the Australian Standard and US Department of Energy (AHAM) and International Standards Organisation test procedures for refrigerators.

This page last modified 27 June 2007