ENERGY STAR® Program Requirements

Product Specification for Water Coolers

Eligibility Criteria
Final Draft Version 2.0

Following is the Final Draft Version 2.0 product specification for ENERGY STAR qualified water coolers.
A product shall meet all of the identified criteria if it is to earn the ENERGY STAR.

1) Definitions: Below are the definitions of the relevant terms in this document.

A. Water Cooler: A freestanding device that consumes energy to cool and/or heat potable water.

a. Cold Only Units: Units that dispense cold water only.

b. Hot and Cold Units: Units that dispense both hot and cold water. Some units may also offer
room-temperature water.

c. Cook and Cold Units: Units that dispense both cold and room-temperature water.

B. Water Source:

a. Bottle-type: A bottle or reservoir supplies water to the water cooler.

b. Bottom Loading: A bottle-type water cooler where the water source is installed below the
faucet(s) and thus the water source is not gravity fed into the water cooler.

c. Point of Use (POU): The water cooler is connected to a pressurized water source.

d. Conversion-type Water Cooler: A unit that ships as either Bottle-type or POU and includes a
conversion kit intended to convert the Water Cooler from a Bottle-type unit to a POU unit or to
convert a POU unit to a Bottle-type unit.

C. Water Storage:

a. Storage: Thermally conditioned water is stored in a tank in the water cooler and is available
instantaneously.

b. On Demand: The water cooler heats water as it is requested, which typically takes a few
minutes to deliver.

D. Compartment-type Water Cooler: A water cooler which, in addition to the primary function of
cooling and dispensing potable water, includes a refrigerated compartment with or without
provisions for making ice.

E. Product Family: A group of product models that (1) are manufactured by the same manufacturer,
(2) use the same primary energy source, and (3) have electrical characteristics that are
essentially identical, and which do not have any differing physical or functional characteristics
that affect energy consumption.

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 F. Test Modes:

a. On Mode with No Water Draw: A test that records the 24-hour energy consumption of a water
cooler with no water drawn during the test period. This test was formerly known as “Standby”.

b. On Mode with Water Draw: A test that records the energy delivered in a water draw and the
subsequent energy consumed while recovering from that water draw. Detailed steps can be
found in Sections 6.2 and 6.3 of the ENERGY STAR Water Cooler Test Method.

c. On Mode Water Draw Performance (OMP): A metric for water draw performance that
compares the energy delivered and energy consumed by the water cooler. The calculation for
OMP can be found in Section 7.6 of the ENERGY STAR Water Cooler Test Method.

2) Scope:

A. Included Products: Products that meet the definition of a water cooler as specified herein are
eligible for ENERGY STAR qualification, with the exception of products listed in Section 2.B.

B. Excluded Products: Units that provide pressurized water and are not free standing (i.e., wall
mounted, under sink, or otherwise building integrated) are not eligible for ENERGY STAR. Air-
Source units and units with a water source other than bottled or tap water (POU) are not eligible.

3) Qualification Criteria:

A. Energy and Water Consumption Requirements:

Table 1: Energy-Efficiency Criteria for ENERGY STAR Qualified Water Coolers

Water Cooler Category Qualification Levels

On Mode with No Water Draw

Cold only and Cook and Cold units < 0.16 kWh/day

Cold only and Cook and Cold units – Bottom < 0.16 kWh/day
Loading

Hot and Cold units – Storage-type* < 0.87 kWh/day

Hot and Cold units – On Demand < 0.18 kWh/day

*Note: POU, dry storage compartment, and bottled water coolers are included in this category.

Note: Several stakeholders continue to be concerned that the 0.81 kWh/year limit proposed for Hot and
Cold – Storage-type units in the previous Draft 2 specification would be more challenging for models
intended for commercial and/or leasing installations compared to models sold at retail. The comments
submitted to EPA suggest that these models are designed for more frequent use and therefore, require
different components and temperature settings to meet consumer needs. In response to these concerns,
EPA conducted a more in-depth analysis of the ENERGY STAR Qualified Product List and confirmed that
a significantly smaller population of brands and models typically leased comply with this limit, compared
to brands sold at retail.

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Note cont. Based on this analysis and subsequent stakeholder discussions, a 0.87 kWh/day limit is now
proposed, which represents approximately 25% of EPA’s dataset and provides consumers with greater
choice in manufacturer and brand within this channel. The overall compliance rate is approximately 28%.
EPA believes that this Final Draft offers consumers sufficient choice of product type, manufacturer, and
brand regardless of distribution channel.
In the previous Draft 2 specification, EPA encouraged stakeholders to comment, and provide supporting
data, on several items: (1) impact of higher flow rate on energy consumption; (2) data on Hot and Cold –
On Demand units that justifies levels to be similar to the Cook and Cold limit of 0.16 kWh/day; (3) data on
Cold only and Cook and Cold units – Bottom Loading water coolers that justifies a separate performance
level for these product types; and (4) data that supports an allowance for water coolers that include a
dedicated refrigerated compartment. To date, EPA has not received any additional information regarding
these topics. EPA may consider these issues in the future but will not be making additional changes to
the Version 2.0 specification at this time.
EPA also encouraged stakeholders interested in an allowance for energy saving devices to provide data
on the energy savings associated with these features. Specifically, EPA was interested in seeing the
delta savings in watts that would suggest a value in their usage. To date, EPA has not received any data
supporting the inclusion of an allowance and several stakeholders expressed support of its removal from
the specification. Therefore, EPA has removed the energy saving device allowance in this Final Draft
specification.

B. Significant Digits and Rounding:

a. All calculations shall be carried out with actual measured or observed values. Only the final
result of a calculation shall be rounded. Calculated results shall be rounded to the nearest
significant digit as expressed in the corresponding specification limit.

b. Unless otherwise specified, compliance with specification limits shall be evaluated using exact
values without any benefit from rounding.

4) Test Requirements:

A. A representative model shall be selected for testing per the following requirements:

a. For qualification of an individual product model, the representative model shall be equivalent
to that which is intended to be marketed and labeled as ENERGY STAR.

b. For qualification of a product family, any model within that product family can be tested and
serve as the representative model.

B. When testing water coolers, the following test method shall be used to determine ENERGY STAR
qualification.

Table 2: Test Methods for ENERGY STAR Qualification

ENERGY STAR Requirement Test Method Reference

On Mode with No Water Draw ENERGY STAR Test Method for Water Coolers
(Rev. March-2013)

Notes on Test Method: (1) In Section 4.O, the Water Cooler Test Method (Rev. March-2013) requires
that the dispensed water temperature be confirmed based on the initial temperature value recorded

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during the On Mode with Water Draw test. Because the On Mode with Water Draw Test is not required for
ENERGY STAR qualification, dispensed water temperature may be confirmed as follows, “The
temperatures shall be measured before conducting the On Mode with No Water Draw test when the
respective function, compressor, or heater element turns on.” (2) Section 5.3.A.3 of the Water Cooler
Test Method states that the UUT shall be stabilized with the heater switch in the off position, where
applicable. The heater switch should then be enabled prior to the start of testing outlined in Section 6.1.
The heater switch may be enabled at any time during the 12 hour stabilization period, but shall complete
at least one heating cycle before the start of testing.

Note: A clarification to the ENERGY STAR Test Method has been added immediately below Table 2:
Test Methods regarding confirmation of dispensed water temperature and UUT stabilization for the On
Mode with No Water Draw procedure.

5) Effective Date: The ENERGY STAR Water Cooler Specification shall take effect on February 1,
2014. To qualify for ENERGY STAR, a product model shall meet the ENERGY STAR specification in
effect on the model’s date of manufacture. The date of manufacture is specific to each unit and is the
date on which a unit is considered to be completely assembled.

Note: EPA intends to finalize the Version 2.0 specification by the end of April. The effective date
proposed above allows manufacturers approximately 9 months to work with certification bodies and
update product literature, as needed, to comply with the new requirements.
Several stakeholders expressed concern with the Version 2.0 effective date and removal of models that
do not meet the new requirements from the ENERGY STAR QPL. Since many water coolers are leased
under contract, the concern is with regards to water coolers that met the Version 1.3 criteria at the time of
manufacture and entry into contract but do not meet the new Version 2.0 requirements. A request was
made to allow customers easy access to the older Version 1.3 QPL so that they may confirm that their
particular water cooler product model was ENERGY STAR at the time of placement. In practice, EPA
does archive the final QPL under the previous version of each specification on the website, which seems
to meet this need. However, as explained in Section 6 below, ENERGY STAR qualification is not granted
for the life of the product. As of February 1, 2014, manufacturers and distributors may only promote
water cooler models as ENERGY STAR qualified if they meet the Version 2.0 criteria.

6) Future Specification Revisions: EPA reserves the right to change the specification should
technological and/or market changes affect its usefulness to consumers, industry, or the environment.
In keeping with current policy, revisions to the specification are arrived at through industry
discussions. In the event of a specification revision, please note that the ENERGY STAR qualification
is not automatically granted for the life of a product model.

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