Refrigeration

Fridge Freezers

History

William Cullen at the University of Glasgow was the first person believed to have demonstrated artificial refrigeration in 1748.   Half a century later Oliver Evans, an American inventor, designed and built the first refrigeration machine in 1805. The discovery of the process for liquefying gas by the German engineer Karl von Linden in 1876 provided the basic technology still used in fridges and freezers today.

The UK Refrigeration Market

Almost every home in the UK has some form of mechanical refrigeration, primarily to keep foods frozen or chilled.

The domestic refrigeration market is spilt between combined fridge freezers (much the largest portion), standalone fridges, and freezers of which some are upright and some ‘chest’.

Innovation

Modern fridge freezers are very energy efficient compared to their predecessors, with the average energy consumption dropping from 4354 kWh in 2015, a reduction of 36% since 2008[1].

We have also seen progressively more environmentally friendly refrigerant gases and insulating materials being used.

A further challenge to energy efficiency was the advent of frost-free technology. The  advantage of no ice accumulation, or need to “defrost” had to be set against  potential for greater energy consumption. However, today practically all of the highest efficiency fridge freezers offer the frost free feature.

Energy efficiency is especially important for fridge freezers and other cooling appliances as they are on all of the time, night and day, throughout the year.

Apart from improved energy efficiency some fridge freezers have evolved to become very visible kitchen decoration with considerable attention paid to how they look. Some models have incorporated drinks dispensers and ice machines, and models are available in a great variety of sizes from small counter-top units to large double-doored versions with many times the capacity of their predecessors.

Labelling

Refrigeration labels [2] display their energy efficiency on a visual scale – the first generation of energy labels was A-G, the second was A+++ – D and the third is rescaled, in 2021, to a new A-G to allow for greater clarity of the best in class energy efficient models. The annual calculated average energy use is also shown in the number of kWh (electricity units).

The current energy label also shows:

  • the chilling capacity of the appliance (litres)
  • the freezing capacity (litres)
  • the noise level in operation (dB)

Wine chillers are increasingly popular in the UK. These have their own labels [3] showing energy use, noise and their capacity in standard wine bottles. The average consumption is 154kWh/year.

There is also a QR code on the new energy label for more product information. This links to the product on the manufacturer’s website. By hovering a smartphone camera over the the code, a link to the webpage is opened, where the consumer can get more details on the product.

[1] Muriel Dupret, and Jean-Paul Zimmermann, on behalf of European Council for an Energy Efficient Economy, Electricity consumption of cold appliances, washing machines, dish washers, tumble driers and air conditioners. On-site monitoring campaign in 100 households. Analysis of the evolution of the consumption over the last 20 years, 19 July 2017

[2] https://ec.europa.eu/energy/eepf-labels/label-type/household-refridgerating-appliances

[3] Muriel Dupret, and Jean-Paul Zimmermann, on behalf of European Council for an Energy Efficient Economy, Electricity consumption of cold appliances, washing machines, dish washers, tumble driers and air conditioners. On-site monitoring campaign in 100 households. Analysis of the evolution of the consumption over the last 20 years, 19 July 2017