Selection Criteria Household Refrigerators

Methodology

Scope

Topten.eu presents built-in and freestanding refrigerators without freezer compartment, refrigerator-freezers with one and two doors, and upright and chest freezers that are available in at least one European country.

Technical criteria

In order to be listed on topten.eu, household refrigerators must meet the follwoing technical criteria:

  • Energy efficiency class A to D

Suppliers who are not able to provide all the necessary data cannot claim to have their products listed on Topten.

Data Sources

  • Producers’ declarations (according to the EU energy label)
  • National data-bases and Topten-sites
  • Encodex data base

Order of presentation

The products are ranked according to their energy efficiency index (EU energy label). The order of presentation can be changed.

Glossary

Brand and Model

A click on the column of a product shows the detailed view.

Electricity costs

Assumptions:

  • Costs for electricity during 15 years (product's life time)
  • According to the declared annual energy consumption
  • Tariff of electricity: 0.30 €/kWh (there can be large differences depending on country or electrical utility).

Net volume

Total storage volume in litres according to the EU energy label. It is composed by the following compartments:

  • Zero degree zone ('chill compartment' - part of the cooling compartment)
  • Cooling compartment (5°C)
  • Freezing compartment (*** or ****, -18° Celsius)

Frost free

With automatic defrost function for the freezing compartment (yes / no)

Height, width and depht (cm)

The dimensions of the model are indicated in cm.

Ambient temperature (°C)

The ambient temperature indicates the recommended room temperature range for cold appliances according to the climate classes. Sub-tropical and tropical appliances receive a bonus when calculating the energy efficiency index. The average temperature in a kitchen is around 20°C.

Climate class Temperature range
SN 10° - 32 °C
N 16° - 32 °C
ST (sub-tropical) 16° - 38 °C
T (tropical) 16° - 43 °C

Energy class and energy efficiency index

According to the Energy Labelling regulation No 2019/2016. The classification on the Energy Label is based on the energy efficiency index (EEI).

Class EEI
 		Energy Label
A EEI ≤ 41
B 41 < EEI ≤ 51
C 51 < EEI ≤ 64
D

64 < EEI ≤ 80


E 80 < EEI ≤ 100
F 100 < EEI ≤ 125
G EEI > 125

Energy (kWh/year)

Annual energy consumption, according to the Energy Label.

Available in countries

This item displays the availability of models in European countries according to producers’ declarations, national Topten sites and other data bases such as EPREL. "EU" means all countries of the European Union. However, the availability is sometimes difficult to define precisely, as it can depend on marketing and sales decisions by retailers and national manufacturing units. "On demand" means that producers could not indicate the availability and that consumers have to ask in their countries on their own. The country codes are according to ISO.

Infoplus

Standards and Labels

Links

  • Energy efficiency measures by the European Commission
  • The European council for an energy efficient economy eceee provides a status overview on all products in the Ecodesign & Energy Labelling process
  • Coolproducts informs about the EU ecodesign process. It is a coalition of NGOs' campaign for a stronger, fast Ecodesign Directive to save the climate and money.
  • ECOS (Ecostandard) is an international NGO with a network of members and experts advocating for environmentally friendly technical standards, policies and laws.
  • EPREL (European Product Registry for Energy Labelling) is the European product database. Products with an energy label are registered in EPREL in order to provide consumers with detailed product information.

Producers and retailers are kindly asked to contact info(at)topten.info to inform about more products meeting the Topten selection criteria.

11/2022 Bush, Hepp

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