Appliance Technology Evaluation Center Works to Improve Testing and Efficiency for Appliances

	The data acquisition computer and surrounding measuring test equipment measures various statistics for appliances such as clothes washers and dishwashers.

Have you ever wondered why your new energy-efficient refrigerator makes those rude clicking noises only when you have company?  Is it more efficient to rinse your dirty dishes before you put them in the dishwasher?  What makes clothes washers more energy efficient?  How much electric power is used by all the clocks you can see from your kitchen table?  Does your cell phone charger still use power even when your phone is not plugged in?

These are the types of questions that engineers at the new Appliance Technology Evaluation Center (ATEC), a Department of Energy (DOE) lab hosted by the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), hope to answer.  NETL supports the efforts of the DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy’s (EERE’s) Appliances and Commercial Equipment Standards Program to establish minimum efficiency standards for residential appliances and commercial equipment and to develop test procedures for testing these products.  For several years, NETL has worked with product manufacturers, designers, utilities, consumers, environmental advocates, and other government agencies toward this goal and has recently expanded its capabilities to include in-house testing of such appliances.  The ATEC, located on NETL’s Morgantown, WV, campus, is a facility specially designed for engineers to improve test methodologies for measuring the energy efficiencies of modern appliances.  In addition, appliance testing performed at ATEC guides energy rulemaking teams in determining possible upgrades in energy efficiency that can be applied to new models of these appliances.

The ATEC staff reviews residential clothes washer water supply temperature data.

Over the years, DOE efficiency standards have influenced appliance manufacturers to make huge improvements.  A new refrigerator, for example, uses 25% of the energy of models from the 1970s.  However, technology advances have made it more challenging to develop test procedures that ensure test results reflect product performance in the field.  For example, micro-processor-based control systems allow appliances to sense environmental conditions, consumer use, and other factors to adjust appliance operation for the best energy efficiency.  Also, modern appliances can consume energy while in off or stand-by modes.  Reproducing all of these energy-consuming modes in the laboratory may be difficult and time intensive.  Further, the amount of time spent in each mode during normal use may not be well understood.

	The ATEC staff collects electrical energy use and water temperature data.

ATEC is designed to allow investigation of the energy test methodologies for a variety of appliances.  Investigating test methodologies will allow ATEC engineers to develop test procedures that reduce testing burdens on manufacturers and, at the same time, make test results more representative of actual use.  ATEC provides a dedicated, flexible, and responsive testing and evaluation facility for appliance energy use measurement.  Here, detailed performance testing is conducted under a variety of operating conditions followed by careful disassembly and analysis of the appliances and equipment (referred to as “reverse engineering”).  Results of these evaluations and tests support development of appliance energy test procedures.

ATEC currently consists of two rooms.  A preparation room includes data-acquisition computers, and tools and facilities to reverse engineer appliances.  The environmentally controlled evaluation room includes four stations, to test a wide range of appliances, including clothes washers and dryers, dishwashers, water heaters, cooking products, furnaces, electronics, shower heads, cell phones, CD & MP3 players, laptop chargers, wheelchair chargers, electric lawnmower chargers, and electric golf cart chargers.  The evaluation room also houses a commercial clothes dryer and a centrifugal extractor used to prepare test cloth for laundry-product testing.  In the near future, ATEC plans to add test capabilities for refrigerators, freezers, air conditioners, heat pumps, room air conditioners, and dehumidifiers.

ATEC engineers began testing of residential clothes washers over the summer, and testing has recently progressed to other appliances.  Longer-term expansion of ATEC may include facilities to conduct large-scale testing of selected appliances to verify that appliances meet the requirements of DOE efficiency standards and the DOE/EPA Energy Star program. More information may be found at the DOE EERE website.

This equipment is used to measure the electrical consumption by battery chargers and external power supplies (BCEPS) for appliances such as cell phones.

	The hot water mixer blends water from the hot water heater and the city water to achieve the hot water temperature tolerance required for clothes washer and dishwasher testing.

In answer to the earlier questions:

1. Your new energy-efficient refrigerator makes those rude clicking noises because the refrigerator is adjusting controls and various heaters for best energy usage.  This happens when you have company because the refrigerator door is opened much more frequently.  An energy efficient refrigerator uses less energy than a 60 watt bulb!  And, yes, the refrigerator light goes out when you close the door.
2. Surprisingly, less water and energy is used by putting the dirty dishes directly into the dishwasher.  Modern energy efficient dishwashers have dirt sensors (turbidity) to determine the most energy efficient cycle.  An efficient dishwasher cycle uses less than a sink full of water!
3. Believe it, or not, DOE energy calculations for clothes washers and dryers assume that between 10 – 15% of all washed clothes are not dried in a dryer (delicates or clothesline).  Clothes washers are made more efficient, in part, by making the clothes more dry (removing moisture content) before putting them in the dryer!
4. From the kitchen table, most of us can see 3 electric clocks: one on the wall, one on the microwave and one on the oven, or range.  Microwave clock displays are reported to use 1.1 to 1.5 watts continuously.
5. Unfortunately, many phone chargers still use energy even when the phone is not plugged in for charging.  Efforts are being made by DOE to greatly reduce the amount of OFF energy or standby energy used by many appliance categories.
6. The new ATEC facility at NETL is designed and equipped to investigate and supply supporting data for the many appliance energy use questions DOE seeks to answer.