How do I calculate the carbon footprint of a refrigerator?

Add the steel cabinet, plastic liner, insulation foam, compressor and copper tubing per unit with supplier figures, then add the plant's energy per unit built. Count the refrigerant as its own line: HFCs warm strongly if they leak, while hydrocarbons such as R600a barely do.

Bought-in parts

• Pre-painted steel sheet for the cabinet and doors.
• Plastic inner liner, shelves and door liners.
• Compressor, condenser, copper and aluminium tubing.

Making

• Sheet forming and liner thermoforming.
• Foaming the cabinet with polyurethane insulation.
• Refrigerant charging, leak testing and assembly.

Per unit

Report per refrigerator by type and capacity in litres, and state the refrigerant and its charge in grams, taken from the rating plate.

Worked example: refrigerator unit per unit (one month)

• Electricity: 200,000 kWh x 0.710 = 142,000 kg CO2
• PNG: 10,000 SCM x 2.05 = 20,500 kg CO2
• Units produced: 12,000
• Plant total: 162,500 / 12,000 = 13.5 kg CO2 per unit
• Add steel, plastics, compressor, foam and refrigerant for the full figure

Inputs are illustrative; use your own bills and production records.

What Senseible does here

Senseible reads the plant's electricity bills (CEA grid factor 0.710 kg CO2 per kWh, CO2 Baseline Database version 21.0) and fuel invoices (IPCC 2006 defaults) into a fingerprinted Scope 1 and 2 record, the plant-level input to a per-unit figure. Bought-in materials go to the supplier evidence trail; product reports are self-declared drafts.

• Product carbon footprint calculator
• Air cooler footprint
• Copper cable footprint
• Thermoformed container footprint
• Automobile industry

Sources: GHG Protocol Product Standard, ISO 14067:2018, Carbon footprint of products (iso.org), IPCC 2006 Guidelines, Volume 2 Energy (fuel defaults), CEA CO2 Baseline Database, version 21.0

Last reviewed 2026-10-20.