Refrigerators are a lot more efficient than they used to be. I knew that, but the last time I was at Lowes I looked at refrigerators, and I was pleasantly shocked by how efficient the new french door models were. They’re not SunFrost, but they’re a lot better than I expected. I think the last time I bought a fridge (15 years ago) it used about 1000 kWh per year. The Energy Star stickers in the new ones were around 500 kWh. And those doors look really convenient.

Turns out it was too good to be true. Consumer Reports published this in October:

If you need a new refrigerator, you might be drawn to the Samsung RF267ABRS. This sharp-looking bottom-freezer is equipped with French doors, through-the-door ice and water dispensers, and many other inviting features.

This refrigerator might also appeal because it carries the Energy Star badge of honor, thanks to its claimed 540-kilowatt-hour annual consumption… But in our comparative energy tests, which are tougher than the Department of Energy’s and better resemble how you use a refrigerator, it used 890 kWh per year.

There’s an even larger difference between company claims and our measurements for the LG LMX25981ST French-door fridge. LG says it uses an Energy Star compliant 547 kWh per year. We found through our tests that real-life energy use would be more than double.

Why the energy-use gap? DOE procedures call for a refrigerator’s icemaker to be off during testing. On the LG, turning off the icemaker also shuts off cooling to the ice-making compartment, located on the refrigerator door.

Consumer Reports also points out that companies test their own products rather than third parties, so it’s questionable how much they can be trusted even when the tests are better designed than this one. However, the DOE just reached a settlement with LG over it’s inflated refrigerator efficiency claims, and it seems to be more than a slap on the wrist for a change:

LG promised to replace a circuit board in each of the several hundred thousand refrigerators covered by the agreement. The circuit board will (presumably) result in lower energy use though it’s not clear from the statement how this will be accomplished. Replacing the circuit boards will require an LG representative to visit every home with a refrigerator. In addition, LG will reimburse owners for the additional electricity used caused by this design for the average lifetime of the refrigerators (but paid in advance).

The settlement should include LG paying to sequester the carbon released, too.

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