Seasonal cooling performance of air conditioners: The importance of independent test procedures used for MEPS and labels

• Published in: International journal of refrigeration Vol. 104; pp. 417 - 425
• Main Authors: Palkowski, Carsten, von Schwarzenberg, Stefan, Simo, Anne
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Paris Elsevier Ltd 01.08.2019; Elsevier Science Ltd
• Subjects: Air conditioner; Air conditioners; Comportement en utilisation réelle; Conditionneur d'air; Cooling; Energy consumption; Energy efficiency; Energy label; Energy management; Greenhouse effect; Greenhouse gases; Household appliances; Independent test method; Labels; Minimum energy performance standards; Méthode de test indépendante; Normes minimales de performance énergétique; Performance standards; Ratio d'efficacité énergétique saisonnier; Real use behavior; Residential energy; Seasonal energy efficiency ratio; Étiquetage énergétique; Real use behavior; Seasonal energy efficiency ratio; Energy label; Conditionneur d'air; Comportement en utilisation réelle; Ratio d'efficacité énergétique saisonnier; Normes minimales de performance énergétique; Étiquetage énergétique; Minimum energy performance standards; Méthode de test indépendante; Independent test method; Air conditioner
• ISSN: 0140-7007; 1879-2081
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijrefrig.2019.05.021

•A novel test method is used for seasonal performance rating of air conditioners.•Steady-state conditions are achieved without fixing the compressor speed.•ON/OFF operation occurs under low part load conditions.•Energy efficiency is lower compared to testing with fixed compressor speed.•Results are reasonable and show high precision. Minimum energy performance standards and labels are commonly used tools to reduce the household energy use thus mitigating greenhouse gas emissions. However, the technical foundation for minimum energy performance standards and labels are test procedures for rating and testing of appliances. To determine the seasonal cooling performance of air conditioners, the current test standards require fixing of the compressor speed of the units to achieve steady-state conditions; this way of operation, however, differs from real-life use. To make the seasonal cooling performance testing better reflect the real use conditions, this study proposes a compensation method which can be conducted independently from manufacturer data and still allows modulation of the tested units. Our results show that the tested units behave differently under part-load conditions, which results in a lower energy efficiency rating for some of the tested devices.