Refrigerators are used in households across the world to store food at a temperature of about 3 to 5 °C (37 to 41 °F) in order prevent it from spoiling. This technology description focuses on refrigerators for residential use and on energy efficiency performance only. It does not take into account potential GHG effects caused by the refrigerant.

Cooling is becoming a rapidly emerging demand in developing countries, which signifies that the building design and shell measures need to reduce cooling loads, and the efficiency of air-conditioning will need to be improved. Air conditioning systems are implemented in numerous sectors, namely buildings, industry and transport. They are distinguished in two main categories, room air conditioners and central air conditioners.

An effective measure to reduce energy consumption in buildings is to deploy technologies that have the ability to influence occupants’ behaviours towards a sustainable lifestyle and being less wasteful of electricity. The characteristics of this group of technologies are to make information and data related to energy consumption visible to the occupants, and to make the benefits of being energy efficient tangible to the occupants, especially in monetary terms.

Heat pumps deliver heating, cooling and hot water to buildings in the domestic, public and industrial sectors and can be located anywhere in the world as they utilise the constant temperature of the earth, the air temperature or water source. Heat pumps can also be reversed and function as space coolers. Most heat pumps operate on a vapour-compression cycle and are driven by an electric motor. Some heat pumps use the absorption principle, with gas or waste heat as the driving energy. This means that heat rather than mechanical energy is supplied to drive the cycle.