Technical analysis of refrigerators and freezers currently used in Brazil and new technologies that could increase their energetic efficiency

Abstract

Over the last twenty years, Brazil has been going through a process of economic development, resulting in a significantly increased demand for energy. Among the appliances with the greatest impact on household electricity consumption, refrigerators and freezers account for more than 30% of consumption. Despite their considerable impact on national electricity consumption, there has been no update aimed at increasing the energy efficiency of these products since 2006. Thus, the main objective of this article is to discuss the technological concept of the refrigerators and freezers currently sold in Brazil, analyzing the feasibility of using new technologies to increase their efficiency. The results showed that the technological developments and financial conditions needed to improve the energetic efficiency of these products in the short term do exist. Thus, it is up to regulatory bodies and the federal government to promote the use of efficient solutions.

Keywords

• Refrigerators
• Energy-Efficiency
• Electricity