WASHINGTON - The Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers (AHAM) intends to launch a third-party industry verification program to verify manufacturer energy ratings for refrigerators and freezers. According to the association, this program will validate the energy ratings made by manufacturers through random third-party testing conducted by an independent laboratory. The program will be open to AHAM members and non-members alike.

While this program will be voluntary, AHAM has received preliminary commitments from the vast majority of refrigerator and freezer manufacturers eligible for participation in the program, which is expected to begin in mid-2010.

The association has been working closely with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to put in place a credible third-party verification program that is consistent with DOE test procedures, which are the basis for measuring appliance energy use for both DOE appliance standards and Energy Star.

“While manufacturers already test and self-certify all models to DOE, the industry’s interest is to strengthen confidence among the public and government in refrigerators and freezer energy claims through random third-party verification tests,” said Joseph McGuire, AHAM president. “AHAM’s long history of administering third-party verification services will add assurances that products have been independently tested and will match the energy claims by the manufacturer.”

For more information, visit www.aham.org.

Publication date: 01/18/2010