On 14 June 2018, Standards Australia’s draft AS/NZS 4474:2018 Household refrigerating appliances – Energy labelling and minimum energy performance standards requirements standard was published for public comment. This standard embodies several years of work by members of the EL-059 Committee that includes E3 Program representatives and other key stakeholders.
Once implemented, this standard will bring into effect the COAG Energy Council decision made in November 2017, to introduce tighter minimum energy performance standards (MEPS) for household refrigerators and freezers. The standard also references the suite of international test standards AS/NZS IEC 62552.1:2018, Parts 1-3. These standards provide improved methodologies to more accurately measure appliances’ energy performance in homes. This will enable the energy rating label to better reflect real-life energy consumption of refrigerating appliances in Australian and New Zealand homes.
Tighter MEPS levels will remove less efficient fridges and freezers from the market and reduce household energy consumption. Improved labelling information will enable consumers to select more efficient appliances and reduce their energy bills.
Public comment period on the draft standard is open until 15 August 2018 – look up by date and make a comment here