Fridge of the future: Designing a one-kilowatt-hour/day domestic refrigerator-freezer

Conference · Sun Mar 01 04:00:00 EST 1998

OSTI ID:672158

Vineyard, E A; Sand, J R

An industry/government Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) was established to evaluate and test design concepts for a domestic refrigerator-freezer unit that represents approximately 60% of the US market. The goal of the CRADA was to demonstrate advanced technologies which reduce, by 50 percent, the 1993 NAECA standard energy consumption for a 20 ft{sup 3} (570 I) top-mount, automatic-defrost, refrigerator-freezer. For a unit this size, the goal translated to an energy consumption of 1.003 kWh/d. The general objective of the research was to facilitate the introduction of cost-efficient technologies by demonstrating design changes that can be effectively incorporated into new products. A 1996 model refrigerator-freezer was selected as the baseline unit for testing. Since the unit was required to meet the 1993 NAECA standards, the energy consumption was quite low (1.676 kWh/d), thus making further reductions in energy consumption very challenging. Among the energy saving features incorporated into the original design of the baseline unit were a low-wattage evaporator fan, increased insulation thicknesses, and liquid line flange heaters.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Washington, DC (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-84OR21400
• OSTI ID: 672158
• Report Number(s): ORNL/CP--97456; CONF-980815--; ON: DE98005716; BR: EC1204000
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION
BLOWERS
ELECTRIC MOTORS
ENERGY CONSUMPTION
ENERGY EFFICIENCY
FREEZERS
GAS COMPRESSORS
REFRIGERATORS
THERMAL INSULATION
VAPOR COMPRESSION REFRIGERATION CYCLE