Refrigerator Replacement/Early Retirement
Draft Program Concept for Manchester/CVPS Project
January 9th, 2006
Quick Description of Opportunity
While the incremental savings from the purchase of a new ENERGY STAR® refrigerator
or freezer are fairly small (50 – 100kWh/yr) in situations where the consumer was
already planning to replace an existing unit, an analysis of Vermont’s 2004 refrigerator
stock yields estimated potential savings of nearly 1,200 kWh/yr from the retirement of an
older refrigerator. This proposed program concept seeks to encourage the accelerated
replacement of older refrigerators and the retirement of second refrigerators.
Program Strategy
Due to the size of the targeted product, the proposed program design cannot follow a
typical consumer turn-in model as has been pursued in the Northeast for torchieres, room
air conditioners and dehumidifiers. A process needs to be developed to assess the
eligibility of the existing refrigerator, arrange for its removal and proper disposal, and
encourage/require those customers purchasing a new unit to select an ENERGY STAR
model.
The program would pursue an “Old Refrigerator Turn-In Day” to be held some three
months after implementation begins. The program would provide a $100 credit toward
pickup and disposal of old eligible refrigerators, and $400 toward the purchase of a new
ENERGY STAR® refrigerator. Program staff would establish eligibility criteria and
would work with retailers to take orders for both pickup/disposal and delivery of new
models on the same day.
Marketing
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The lead time needed to get a bill stuffer produced and included in bills may limit
the number of such communications, but this option should be pursued with
CVPS, possibly combined with other Manchester efficiency program messaging.
This program would be marketed through current community-based outreach
activities. To get disposal of “second refrigerators” without replacement, some
marketing materials or message needs to be developed to explain the cost of
maintaining these second units at residences.
Budget Estimate
Based on the following assumptions:
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2,500 households
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1.423 saturation of old or 2nd refrigerators from the analysis of the RASS data for
the Southern Loop project (considerably higher than the statewide saturation of
second and third refrigerators)
15 percent participation rate (adjusting United Illuminated’s 7% annual
participation rate adjusted for higher incentives and heightened awareness from
the Manchester campaign) running this effort through the end of 2006.
A per-unit cost of $400 incentive and $100 for removal/disposal.
Assume 1 full-time FTE for four months to manage the project, coordinate
participating community resources (e.g., retailers), oversee logistics, and handle
data tracking.
The estimated budget is about $260,000 to remove approximately 500 units (assuming
that 400 new refrigerators are purchased).
Savings Estimate
Based on the assumptions above, savings are:
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kW – 74 (winter savings - uses VEIC Southern loop measure savings
assumptions)
MWh annual – 583 (uses VEIC Southern loop screening savings of 1,165 per
refrigerator)
MWh lifetime (assumes five years of remaining life) – 2,915
The energy savings estimate may be revised based upon reviews of other programs (i.e.,
Connecticut, elsewhere).
Advantages/Disadvantages
The advantages of this program are:
o It is clearly distinguishable from Efficiency Vermont efforts because EVT does
not offer a comparable trade-in..
o Since the program itself will take place through a different implementation
mechanism, savings and spending can be tracked separately.
o It is targeting a significant end-use on the residential side that is not typically
well-addressed. For the homes that have an older refrigerator and no electric
DHW and space heat, it will be their largest source of electrical energy use.
o It is feasible to initiate within the available timeframe.
o The measure is cost-effective, persistent, and will provide winter kW savings.
The primary disadvantages are cost and logistical challenges in finding a willing retailer,
ways for customers to bring in their refrigerators, and available space to collect units.
Additionally, there may be some uncertainties about freeridership.
IT Needs-Issues
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Install DOE savings calculator on website (if and when available)
Sort customer data by date of connect (can this be done?), with a possible
targeting of those customers in older homes. We can sort data by “active” or
“finaled” status and by the “service date”- the date the account went into service.
Not sure this tells us how old the account is nor what the opps are, but we can do
it.