Key challenges identified by the report include greater connectivity, the ageing population, changing diet and eating habits, changing living spaces, environmental challenges, reducing energy usage and the circular economy.

The Fridge 2050 report’s authors, Dr Sam Brooks and Professor Rajkumar Roy, conclude: “We need to ensure future efficiency benefits are affordable and available to a broad section of society, either with appliances sold as a service or by offering affordable upgrades with remanufacturing. 

“Manufacturers have played a key role in creating efficient appliances. They should also take an active role in the end life of major domestic appliances (MDAs) or support other organisations working on reusing, recycling and remanufacturing old MDAs.”

The authors continue: “As we approach 2050, our appliances will have to change to be future-proof. Improvements to existing designs should still be encouraged, including further research and concept designs. The key technology for our ‘Fridges in 2050’ might not yet exist.”

The Fridge 2050 report says reducing energy use is a key priority, highlighting the fact that energy usage of fridge-freezers has fallen by around 50% in the past 20 years, with washing machines and dryers achieving a 20% reduction.

The report concludes that smart connected appliances are growing in popularity and affordability and that the long lifespan and high cost of MDAs are likely to lead to a gradual uptake of these smart appliances.

Smart appliances, it says, have the potential to help us address environmental challenges, encourage us to eat sustainably or tell us food is going off, while washing machines can adjust water or power depending on how dirty clothing is, and all appliances should coordinate with the national grid to optimise when power is used.

Turning to cooking appliances, the report says it’s unlikely that robotic, automated systems will be fully trusted by consumers and it concludes that assisted cooking systems that help users to cook, explore different recipes and monitor the cooking process for optimal results, will be much more useful.

In terms of energy usage, the report says cooking appliances have not reduced their energy usage greatly because of the need to preheat, pointing to a new oven design by Brave that uses infra-red to heat up different zones quickly and remove the need for preheating.

There is, states the report, still a preference for cooking on gas in the UK but this is likely to change as the Government pushed to reduce the UK’s gas usage due to finite supply, urging a transition either to electric power or hydrogen. New designs or conversion kits will be needed for hydrogen gas operation, and the report says that in new-builds, induction hobs are likely to become dominant as prices fall.

In refrigeration, the report says that VCC (vapour compression cycle) refrigeration is still likely to dominate cooling technology in 2050, but with higher efficiency compressors and only HC gases. 

It suggests solid-state cooling refrigerators could be seen soon, though currently these are not developed enough for widespread domestic use.

In washing machines and dryers, it says they will have to catch microfibres as well as improving efficiency. Lower temperature and water use should be encouraged by using active oxygen or ultrasound technology to aid cleaning by vibrating jelly instead of using water. Meanwhile, for drying, new heat pumps and vacuum dryers can help drive greater efficiency. 

Read also: GFK: ALL SEGMENTS OF HOME APPLIANCES TO RECOVER IN 2022, AS MARKETS PICK-UP AFTER THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Reposted From Source: news.ifa-berlin.com

Key challenges identified by the report include greater connectivity, the ageing population, changing diet and eating habits, changing living spaces, environmental challenges, reducing energy usage and the circular economy.

The Fridge 2050 report’s authors, Dr Sam Brooks and Professor Rajkumar Roy, conclude: “We need to ensure future efficiency benefits are affordable and available to a broad section of society, either with appliances sold as a service or by offering affordable upgrades with remanufacturing. 

“Manufacturers have played a key role in creating efficient appliances. They should also take an active role in the end life of major domestic appliances (MDAs) or support other organisations working on reusing, recycling and remanufacturing old MDAs.”

The authors continue: “As we approach 2050, our appliances will have to change to be future-proof. Improvements to existing designs should still be encouraged, including further research and concept designs. The key technology for our ‘Fridges in 2050’ might not yet exist.”

The Fridge 2050 report says reducing energy use is a key priority, highlighting the fact that energy usage of fridge-freezers has fallen by around 50% in the past 20 years, with washing machines and dryers achieving a 20% reduction.

The report concludes that smart connected appliances are growing in popularity and affordability and that the long lifespan and high cost of MDAs are likely to lead to a gradual uptake of these smart appliances.

Smart appliances, it says, have the potential to help us address environmental challenges, encourage us to eat sustainably or tell us food is going off, while washing machines can adjust water or power depending on how dirty clothing is, and all appliances should coordinate with the national grid to optimise when power is used.

Turning to cooking appliances, the report says it’s unlikely that robotic, automated systems will be fully trusted by consumers and it concludes that assisted cooking systems that help users to cook, explore different recipes and monitor the cooking process for optimal results, will be much more useful.

In terms of energy usage, the report says cooking appliances have not reduced their energy usage greatly because of the need to preheat, pointing to a new oven design by Brave that uses infra-red to heat up different zones quickly and remove the need for preheating.

There is, states the report, still a preference for cooking on gas in the UK but this is likely to change as the Government pushed to reduce the UK’s gas usage due to finite supply, urging a transition either to electric power or hydrogen. New designs or conversion kits will be needed for hydrogen gas operation, and the report says that in new-builds, induction hobs are likely to become dominant as prices fall.

In refrigeration, the report says that VCC (vapour compression cycle) refrigeration is still likely to dominate cooling technology in 2050, but with higher efficiency compressors and only HC gases. 

It suggests solid-state cooling refrigerators could be seen soon, though currently these are not developed enough for widespread domestic use.

In washing machines and dryers, it says they will have to catch microfibres as well as improving efficiency. Lower temperature and water use should be encouraged by using active oxygen or ultrasound technology to aid cleaning by vibrating jelly instead of using water. Meanwhile, for drying, new heat pumps and vacuum dryers can help drive greater efficiency. 

Read also: GFK: ALL SEGMENTS OF HOME APPLIANCES TO RECOVER IN 2022, AS MARKETS PICK-UP AFTER THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Reposted From Source: news.ifa-berlin.com