Economic feasibility for acquisition of efficient refrigerators in

Economic feasibility for acquisition of efficient refrigerators in Brazil
Rafael Balbino Cardoso1*, Luiz Augusto Horta Nogueira¹, Jamil Haddad¹
1
Federal University of Itajubá, Itajubá-MG, Brazil
Published in Applied Energy,87 (2010) 28-37
Since 1993, the Brazilian National Program of Electricity Conservation has been developing the
PROCEL Label Program, oriented towards helping consumers to buy more efficient home
appliances. In this context, an energy savings of 1379 GWh and a reduction of 197MWin the
Brazilian demand in 2007 are estimated as resulting from efficiency labeling in refrigerators and
freezers. This paper aims to evaluate the economic feasibility of purchasing labeled refrigerators
instead of inefficient ones, from the consumer’s point of view, considering actual market conditions
and buying in cash or financing. The evaluation of energy saving was done for 22 different models of
refrigerators and the economy was calculated considering the retail price in the Brazilian market and
two actual electricity tariffs, taking into account, respectively, high and low household electricity
consumption. The effect of ambient temperature on refrigerator performance was evaluated in two
conditions: according to the Brazilian standard for performance tests (32ºC) and using the average
temperature of Southern Brazil (18ºC), the mildest region. The benefit in buying labeled refrigerators
was evaluated using the Internal Rate of Return and the Payback Time for a cash flow during the
appliance life, estimated as 16 years. The results indicate that for cash purchase, for any electricity
tariff and for both ambient temperatures studied, the consumers are economically benefited buying
labeled refrigerators instead of less efficient models. For credit purchases, in the evaluated conditions,
high-tariff consumer typically gains selecting labeled refrigerator, on the other hand, for lowtariff
consumer and in colder areas, it is economically advisable to buy less efficient appliances.
Sensitivity analysis of energy tariff and financing conditions are presented.
Keywords: Energy Efficiency, Refrigerators, Economic Feasibility.