Five state-of-the-art production refrigerators from different manufacturers in India were subjected to a variety of appliance rating and performance test procedures in an engineering laboratory. Cabinet heat loss, compressor calorimeter, high-ambient pull-down, and closed-door energy consumption tests were performed on each unit to assess the current status of commercially available Indian refrigerators and refrigerator efficiencies. Daily energy consumption tests were performed at nominal line voltages and at 85% and 115% of nominal voltage to assess the effect of grid voltage variations. These test results were also used to indicate opportunities for effective improvements in energy efficiency. A widely distributed "generic" computer model capable of simulating single-door refrigerators with a small interior freezer section was used to estimate cabinet heat loss rates and closed-door energy consumption values from basic cabinet and refrigeration circuit inputs. This work helped verify the model's accuracy and potential value as a tool for evaluating the energy impact of proposed design options. Significant differences ranging from 30% to 90% were seen in the measured performance criteria for these "comparable" refrigerators suggesting opportunities for improvements in individual product design. Modelled cabinet heat loadings differed from experimentally extrapolated values in a range from 2% to 29%, and daily energy consumption values estimated by the model differed from laboratory data by as little as 3% or as much as 25%, which indicates that refinement of the model may be needed for this single-door refrigerator type. Additional comparisons of experimentally measured performance criteria, such as percent compressor run times and compressor cycling rates to modelled results, are given. The computer model is used to evaluate the energy saving impact of several modest changes to the basic Indian refrigerator design.

KEYWORDS: year 1995, refrigerators, energy, efficiency, energy conservation, energy consumption, India, performance, calculating, testing, laboratory testing, accuracy, heat loss, components, comparing, refrigeration, voltage, fluctuating voltage