A general design for energy test procedures

Appliances are increasingly controlled by microprocessors. Unfortunately, energy test procedures have not been modified to capture the positive and negative contributions of the microprocessor to the appliance's energy use. A new test procedure is described which captures both the mechanical and logical features present in many new appliances. We developed an energy test procedure for refrigerators that incorporates most aspects of the proposed new approach. Some of the strengths and weaknesses of the new test are described