Refrigerator DSM programs: Status and prospects
The energy use of new refrigerators in the US has decreased by nearly 50 percent since 1980, driven by federal standards and utility demand-side management (DSM) programs. With today`s new refrigerators so much more efficient than earlier products, are refrigerators still an attractive target for demand-side management efforts? An E Source analysis of US utility programs reveals the following: (1) The retirement of older, inefficient refrigerators from homes with two or more units is generally a cost-effective DSM approach, with savings of about 1,000 kWh per year for every spare unit that is eliminated from use and not replaced with a new model. (2) Hundreds of new models exceed federal efficiency standards by at least 10 percent, using 50 to 300 kWh per year less than the standards allow. Modest incentives for these machines can still be cost-effective for some utilities, although many rebate programs have been dropped. (3) More utilities are targeting rebates and other incentives ``upstream`` to retailers or manufacturers as a means of increasing the leverage of DSM investments. (4) Multi-utility efforts, such as the establishment of uniform performance targets by several utilities, can be more effective than individual utility programs in moving the market for higher efficiency refrigerators, and are getting increasing attention.
- OSTI ID:
- 55524
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Implementing and managing a DSM program: Central Hudson`s dollar $avers commercial/industrial rebate program
Impact of the Demand-Side Management (DSM) Program structure on the cost-effectiveness of energy efficiency projects