I just saw an Energy Star commercial which stated that a 'fridge built ten years ago uses twice as much electricity as a new one. Does that sound like a logical stat to you? I'll have to spend some time researching that when I get time but it sounds a bit inflated to me.
Sounds plausible. I replaced a small old fridge with a newer one twice the size and my electric bill dropped $10 a month.
Two factors make this possible. Compressors are more efficient and draw less power, and the insulation is better so the compressor does not run as long.
This same bunk has been spouted for decades, ever since the energy crisis of the 1970s. There was some basis to it then, but major efficiency improvements have all been exploited for quite a while now. Efficiency in fact went way *backwards* with the switch in non-CFC refrigerants in the
1990s to today.
The biggest power hog in a refrigerator is making ICE. Turn off your icemaker and remove any loose ice (which sublimates and costs energy) and watch how much less your unit runs. As long as you have open liquid water in the freezer it will never shut off.
I can't say about everything, but having loose ice in the freezer is not going to cause significant energy use and having open liquid water in the freezer will NOT keep it running unit it freezes. Freezing water does require a fair amount of energy, but if you want ice you have to freeze it. Once frozen it does not cost any measurable amounts to keep it frozen.
I was skeptical of the claim that a new refrigerator will use half the energy of one just 10 years old. From the DOE EnergyStar website, they actually say a new energy star certified one will use about half as much energy as one from 15 YEARS AGO.
They also have a calculator where you can enter your current model fridge and energy cost and then it will tell you how much it will save per year.
For my late 80's vintage side by side 24cft Fridgidare, it costs $305 to run, a new energy star unit would cost $90. I also tried using the typical side by side, late 80's, 24cft option. That comes up with $397 vs $95.
These numbers shocked me. I would have thought there would be a reasonable energy difference, but I also assumed that there was only so much that can be done to make them more efficient. So, I was expecting a difference of maybe 20-30%.
Guess I should start shopping. Of course, the key to this is also it has to be an energy star certified model and I don't know how much more they cost vs other models, but assume it's still well worthwhile.
Too bad they don't make this more widely known. If I saw a TV ad about this, I would have visited the EnergyStar website long ago.
My new unit uses about 4-5$ a month, my old unit maybe 15$ a month, yes its true but I thought new standards were adopted in maybe 93,
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has ratings on all units and a full lowdown on when new mandates took place. Get a Kill-A-Watt meter and find out what your frige consumes. Payback can be 4 years on new units.
Warm your home? How about waste your money, part of the savings is better foam insulation, since my electric is 30% more per BTU than gas why would I want to pay more for heat, I bet you dont use CFLs either.
Yea if we actualy had a Government Education Energy Program we all would benefit, but the govenment does nothing. I think most all are now Energy Star, Sears has had the most efficent units as of 4 years ago, Shop by the Yellow Energy guide tag.
all standby electric use, tvs, clock radios, cable boxes, computer even in idle mode generate some waste heat that helps heat your home in the winter. energy star savings isnt 100%:(
nearly all my lamps are CF, except one in attic thats rarely used, and a couple in fixtures that wouldnt accept CF. i modified my living room lamps to accept CFs..........
specifically to save energy they are on a lot.......
True, but energy star ratings educate us to save energy since our own government is to cheap to educate us or have an energy policy. I have most things on switches that have idle load, get yourself a Kill-A- Watt meter and do your own energy audit. Old anything can be a hog, especialy tvs.
Yup. As I replace stuff, it's all energystar. Being in an older house, I've had to replace quite a bit over time. Then again, we bought in 1995 so thats reasonable.
Oh my chest freezer is energy star . At highest KWH rate I could find, came out with 7$ a month but thats peak California brown-out day rates. Actual rate here comes up with 48$ a year roughly.
Those costs you figure on the new one might be high, my sears 19.5 costs in reality $4.50 a month tested with a Kill a watt meter. But I bought the sears only because it had the best effeciency rating. I have also a 20 yr old side by side that costs 11 a month.
Nope. You don't understand the thermodynamics of sublimation and the heat of fusuion and vaporization, and the practicalities of modern appliances.
You pay energy first to sublimate ice to vapor if they're loose in the freezer. This is why they shrink over time, and why frozen food dessicates if not in a vapor barrier.
You pay again to condense and fuse that vapor into frost on the refrigerator's evaporator.
You pay *again* for the heater which melts that frost off during the defrost cycle into a drain pan in the bottom of the fridge.
You pay again for a blower and heat to evaporate that drained, melted frost out into the room air from below the fridge.
You pay again to condense that room vapor with your air conditioner.
So it's made quite a few thermodynamic trips ALL AT YOUR EXPENSE.
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