Minimum energy performance standard
Encyclopedia
MEPS is a specification containing a number of performance requirements for an energy-using device, and that effectively limits the maximum amount of energy
that may be consumed by a product in performing a specified task.
A MEPS is usually made mandatory by a government energy efficiency body. It may include requirements not directly related to energy; this is to ensure that general performance and user satisfaction are not adversely affected by increasing energy efficiency.
A MEPS generally requires use of a particular test procedure that specifies how performance is measured.
In North America
when addressing energy efficiency, a MEPS is sometimes referred to simply as a “Standard”, as in “Co-operation on Labeling and Standards Programs”. In Latin America
when addressing energy efficiency, MEPS are sometimes referred to as Normas (translated as "Norms").
A storage water heater providing hot water for sanitary purposes is required to heat up a specified quantity of water to a specified temperature and store it at that temperature for a specified time while consuming a limited amount of energy. In this example, the requirements for heating up and for maintaining the temperature may be applied as two separate energy performance requirements or there may be a single task efficiency.
A compact fluorescent lamp
is required to start and run-up to near full brightness
in a given time, to have a minimum life of several thousand hours, to maintain its output within specified limits, to withstand a certain number of switchings, to have a consistent colour appearance and a specified colour rendering. Its energy performance requirement is usually stated in terms of minimum efficacy (light output per electrical input).
was a pioneer in the introduction of MEPS. It order to reduce the growth in electricity use, the California Energy Commission
(CEC) was given unique and strong authority to regulate the efficiency of appliances sold in the state. It started to adopt appliance efficiency regulations in 1978, and has updated the standards regularly over time, and expanded the list of covered appliances.
In 1988, California's standards became national standards for the U.S. through the enactment of the National Appliance Energy Conservation Act
(NAECA). The federal standards preempted state standards (unless the state justified a waiver from federal preemption based on conditions in the state), and since then, the U.S. Department of Energy has had the responsibility to update the federal standards.
California has continued to expand the list of appliances it regulates for appliances that are not federally-regulated, and therefore not preempted. In recent years the CEC's attention has been focused on consumer electronics, for which energy use has been growing dramatically.
by state government legislation and regulations which give force to the relevant Australian Standards. It is mandatory for the following products manufactured in or imported into Australia to meet the MEPS levels specified by the relevant Australian Standards:
introduced Minimum Energy Performance Standards (MEPS) with Energy Efficiency Regulations.
MEPS and energy rating labels help improve the energy efficiency of our products, and enable consumers to choose products that use less energy. Products covered by MEPS must meet or exceed set levels for energy performance before they can be sold to consumers.
MEPS have been updated over the years (2002, 2003, 2004, 2008, 2011) to cover a wide range of products, and increasing levels of stringency. New Zealand
works with Australia to harmonise MEPS levels. Almost all of its standards are joint standards with Australia.
New Zealand
has mandatory Energy rating labelling for dishwashers and clothes dryers, fridges, washing machines and room air conditioners.
MEPS apply to the following:
Energy
In physics, energy is an indirectly observed quantity. It is often understood as the ability a physical system has to do work on other physical systems...
that may be consumed by a product in performing a specified task.
A MEPS is usually made mandatory by a government energy efficiency body. It may include requirements not directly related to energy; this is to ensure that general performance and user satisfaction are not adversely affected by increasing energy efficiency.
A MEPS generally requires use of a particular test procedure that specifies how performance is measured.
In North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
when addressing energy efficiency, a MEPS is sometimes referred to simply as a “Standard”, as in “Co-operation on Labeling and Standards Programs”. In Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
when addressing energy efficiency, MEPS are sometimes referred to as Normas (translated as "Norms").
Examples
- A refrigerating applianceRefrigeratorA refrigerator is a common household appliance that consists of a thermally insulated compartment and a heat pump that transfers heat from the inside of the fridge to its external environment so that the inside of the fridge is cooled to a temperature below the ambient temperature of the room...
is required to maintain temperatureTemperatureTemperature is a physical property of matter that quantitatively expresses the common notions of hot and cold. Objects of low temperature are cold, while various degrees of higher temperatures are referred to as warm or hot...
s inside its compartments within specified limits, and to operate (including defrosting) in a specified ambient temperature while using at most a specified amount of electricityElectricityElectricity is a general term encompassing a variety of phenomena resulting from the presence and flow of electric charge. These include many easily recognizable phenomena, such as lightning, static electricity, and the flow of electrical current in an electrical wire...
; the energy use allowed varies according to volume, number of doors, the function of the various compartments and other parameters. This graph shows the dramatic reduction in electricity use in U.S. refrigerators following the introduction of a series of first California then U.S. MEPS starting in the mid-1970s:
- An electric fan is required to shift air at a specified rate while consuming a limited amount of power.
A storage water heater providing hot water for sanitary purposes is required to heat up a specified quantity of water to a specified temperature and store it at that temperature for a specified time while consuming a limited amount of energy. In this example, the requirements for heating up and for maintaining the temperature may be applied as two separate energy performance requirements or there may be a single task efficiency.
- An electric induction motorInduction motorAn induction or asynchronous motor is a type of AC motor where power is supplied to the rotor by means of electromagnetic induction. These motors are widely used in industrial drives, particularly polyphase induction motors, because they are robust and have no brushes...
is required to have a specified minimum full-load efficiency.
A compact fluorescent lamp
Compact fluorescent lamp
A compact fluorescent lamp , also called compact fluorescent light, energy-saving light, and compact fluorescent tube, is a fluorescent lamp designed to replace an incandescent lamp; some types fit into light fixtures formerly used for incandescent lamps...
is required to start and run-up to near full brightness
Brightness
Brightness is an attribute of visual perception in which a source appears to be radiating or reflecting light. In other words, brightness is the perception elicited by the luminance of a visual target...
in a given time, to have a minimum life of several thousand hours, to maintain its output within specified limits, to withstand a certain number of switchings, to have a consistent colour appearance and a specified colour rendering. Its energy performance requirement is usually stated in terms of minimum efficacy (light output per electrical input).
California
In the U.S. the state of CaliforniaCalifornia
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
was a pioneer in the introduction of MEPS. It order to reduce the growth in electricity use, the California Energy Commission
California Energy Commission
The California Energy Commission is California’s primary energy policy and planning agency. Created in 1974 and headquartered in Sacramento, the Commission has responsibility for activities that include forecasting future energy needs, promoting energy efficiency through appliance and building...
(CEC) was given unique and strong authority to regulate the efficiency of appliances sold in the state. It started to adopt appliance efficiency regulations in 1978, and has updated the standards regularly over time, and expanded the list of covered appliances.
In 1988, California's standards became national standards for the U.S. through the enactment of the National Appliance Energy Conservation Act
National Appliance Energy Conservation Act
The National Appliance Energy Conservation Act is a 1975 piece of legislation by the United States Congress which regulates energy consumption of specific household appliances in the United States. Though minimum Energy Efficiency Standards were first established by the United States Congress in...
(NAECA). The federal standards preempted state standards (unless the state justified a waiver from federal preemption based on conditions in the state), and since then, the U.S. Department of Energy has had the responsibility to update the federal standards.
California has continued to expand the list of appliances it regulates for appliances that are not federally-regulated, and therefore not preempted. In recent years the CEC's attention has been focused on consumer electronics, for which energy use has been growing dramatically.
Australia
MEPS programs are made mandatory in AustraliaAustralia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
by state government legislation and regulations which give force to the relevant Australian Standards. It is mandatory for the following products manufactured in or imported into Australia to meet the MEPS levels specified by the relevant Australian Standards:
| Appliance | Date |
|---|---|
| Refrigerators and freezers | 1 October 1999 |
| Mains pressure electric storage water heaters | 1 October 1999 |
| Three phase electric motors | 1 October 2001 |
| Three phase air conditioners | 1 October 2001 |
| ballasts for linear fluorescent lamps | 1 March 2003 |
| Single phase air conditioners | 1 October 2004 |
| Linear fluorescent lamps | 1 October 2004 |
| Distribution transformers | 1 October 2004 |
| commercial refrigeration | 1 October 2004 |
| Pressure electric storage water heaters smaller than 80 liter Litér - External links :*... s, low pressure and heat exchange types |
1 October 2005 |
Brazil
A law was approbed in 2001. MEPS have been set for three-phase electric motors and compact fluorescent lamps.New Zealand
On 5 February 2002, New ZealandNew Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
introduced Minimum Energy Performance Standards (MEPS) with Energy Efficiency Regulations.
MEPS and energy rating labels help improve the energy efficiency of our products, and enable consumers to choose products that use less energy. Products covered by MEPS must meet or exceed set levels for energy performance before they can be sold to consumers.
MEPS have been updated over the years (2002, 2003, 2004, 2008, 2011) to cover a wide range of products, and increasing levels of stringency. New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
works with Australia to harmonise MEPS levels. Almost all of its standards are joint standards with Australia.
New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
has mandatory Energy rating labelling for dishwashers and clothes dryers, fridges, washing machines and room air conditioners.
MEPS apply to the following:
- Refrigerators and freezers
- Washing machines
- Air conditioners
- Computer room air conditioners
- Chillers
- Electric water storage heaters
- Gas water heaters
- External power supplies
- Set top boxes
- Distribution transformers
- Refrigerated display cabinets
- Three phase electric motors
- Ballasts for fluorescent lamps
- Tubular fluorescent lamps
See also
- Energy StarEnergy StarEnergy Star is an international standard for energy efficient consumer products originated in the United States of America. It was first created as a United States government program during the early 1990s, but Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, Taiwan and the European Union have also adopted...
- One Watt InitiativeOne Watt InitiativeThe One Watt Initiative is an energy-saving initiative by the International Energy Agency to reduce standby power-use by any appliance to not more than one watt in 2010, and 0.5 watts in 2013, which has given rise to regulations in many countries and regions.-Standby power:Standby power,...
- Power managementPower managementPower management is a feature of some electrical appliances, especially copiers, computers and computer peripherals such as monitors and printers, that turns off the power or switches the system to a low-power state when inactive. In computing this is known as PC power management and is built...
- E-waste
- Green energy
- House Energy RatingHouse Energy RatingA House Energy Rating is an index of a building's thermal performance for residential homes in Australia....
(Australia) - European Union energy labelEuropean Union energy labelEU Directive 92/75/EC established an energy consumption labeling scheme. The directive was implemented by several other directives thus most white goods, light bulb packaging and cars must have an EU Energy Label clearly displayed when offered for sale or rent...
- Appliance Standards Awareness Project (ASAP) (US)
- California Energy Commission (efficiency standards and database) (US)
- Collaborative Labeling and Appliance Standards Program (CLASP) (US)
- Department of Energy (U.S. efficiency standards) (US)
- Australian energy standards and labels
- Natural Resources Canada