IEC 62552-3-2025 PDF

Full title and description

St IEC 62552-3-2025 — Household refrigerating appliances — Characteristics and test methods — Part 3: Energy consumption and volume. Consolidated edition incorporating the 2015 base publication and amendments up to 2025; specifies test procedures and measurement methods used to determine energy consumption components and declared compartment volumes for household and similar refrigerating appliances.

Abstract

This consolidated 2025 edition of IEC 62552-3 provides the updated methodology for measuring and reporting the energy consumption and usable volume of household refrigerating appliances (refrigerators, freezers, combined appliances and wine-storage compartments). The document splits energy measurements into components (steady-state, defrost, recovery, load-processing), introduces two ambient test temperatures to improve comparability between climates, refines sensor placement and measurement principles for modern electronic controls, and adds tests relevant to wine-storage appliances and load-processing energy. It is intended to support consistent laboratory measurement, regulatory energy-labeling schemes and product development.

General information

• Status: Published / Consolidated edition (current)
• Publication date: 27 August 2025
• Publisher: International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC)
• ICS / categories: 97.030 (Domestic electrical appliances in general)
• Edition / version: Consolidated edition 1.2 (IEC 62552-3:2015 + AMD1:2020 + AMD2:2025)
• Number of pages: 326 (consolidated document)

Scope

This part of IEC 62552 specifies essential characteristics and laboratory test methods for household and similar refrigerating appliances cooled by internal natural convection or forced-air circulation. It defines procedures to determine energy consumption (split into measurable components) and to determine declared compartment volumes. The standard provides the measurement framework that can be combined with region-specific weightings and usage profiles to estimate in-use energy consumption under different climate and usage conditions.

Key topics and requirements

• Definitions and general test conditions for energy and volume measurements.
• Energy-consumption test methodology split into components: steady-state, defrost, recovery and load-processing measurements.
• Two specified ambient test temperatures (typical cold-climate and warm-climate conditions) for energy measurements to improve global applicability.
• Load-processing energy efficiency test to capture energy used for maintaining temperatures with product loading and handling.
• Detailed sensor-placement rules and averaging methods for compartment air temperatures (no thermal-mass test packages used for energy tests).
• Procedure for determination and declaration of usable compartment volume.
• Added test procedures and criteria for wine-storage appliances and compartments.
• Requirements to accommodate electronic controls and computer-based test-room data collection and processing.

Typical use and users

Manufacturers and product designers use the standard to design and validate appliance performance and to declare usable volumes and energy characteristics. Accredited test laboratories implement the test methods for type testing and regulatory compliance. Regulators and energy-labeling programs use the measurement framework to set regional test conditions and conversion weightings. Certification bodies, market surveillance authorities and researchers also rely on the standard for consistent, repeatable measurements.

Related standards

Key related documents include IEC 62552-1 (General requirements) and IEC 62552-2 (Performance requirements), the household appliance safety standard series (for example IEC 60335-2-24 for refrigerating appliances), and regional/adopted variants (EN 62552 series and subsequent amendments) and applicable energy‑labeling and ecodesign regulations used by jurisdictions to set labelling rules and conformity assessment procedures.

Keywords

household refrigerating appliances, refrigerating appliance test methods, energy consumption, usable volume, energy components, defrost, recovery, load-processing, wine-storage, IEC 62552, test laboratory, energy labelling

FAQ

Q: What is this standard?

A: IEC 62552-3:2025 (consolidated) is Part 3 of the IEC 62552 series and defines test methods and measurement procedures to determine energy consumption components and usable compartment volume of household refrigerating appliances.

Q: What does it cover?

A: It covers laboratory methods to measure energy use (split into steady-state, defrost, recovery and load-processing components), rules for temperature sensing and averaging, two ambient test conditions for broader climate representation, procedures for declaring compartment volumes, and added tests for wine-storage appliances.

Q: Who typically uses it?

A: Appliance manufacturers, test laboratories, certification bodies, regulators implementing energy-label or ecodesign programs, market surveillance authorities and researchers.

Q: Is it current or superseded?

A: This consolidated edition (incorporating amendments through 2025) is the current published version for Part 3. It integrates earlier editions and amendments to provide the up-to-date test framework.

Q: Is it part of a series?

A: Yes — IEC 62552 is a multipart standard. Part 1 covers general requirements, Part 2 covers performance requirements, and Part 3 covers energy consumption and volume. These parts are intended to be used together for full characterization of household refrigerating appliances.

Q: What are the key keywords?

A: Energy consumption, volume, test method, refrigerating appliance, defrost, recovery, load-processing, wine-storage, ambient temperature, IEC 62552.