Power! (and heat, and noise)
Aug. 30th, 2008 11:09 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
milktreeMy new fridge showed up yesterday. I got this one on "no tax day" with a bunch of other incentives that brought the cost down (what seemed like) a lot:
Kenmore model 4658036
I had a Kill-A-Watt (power meter) on the old fridge.
Over 250 days (Mid winter through mid summer) it drew 1,143 kWh of power, or normalized per year, 1,675 kWh/year
The new one is rated by the manufacturer at 580 kWh/year. In the last day it's drawn 603 kWh/year, including most (but not all) of the startup/initial cooling hit. I've periodicly checked it, and the yearly estimate has gone down, so the 580/year seems pretty plausible.
Fridges use quite a lot more power in the summer than in the winter, for two reasons:
1) When it's warmer/hot in the kitchen, more cold is lost to the kitchen (more heat gets into the fridge)
2) when the kitchen is warmer/hot, heat transfer between the condenser is a lot less efficient, which requires the compressor to run more.
(assuming, of course, that you don't heat and air condition your house to keep the inside temperature the same all year.)
Anyway, ~1,050 kWh /year savings @ ~$0.20/kWh ≈ $210/year. Just about six years before it pays for itself assuming electricity doesn't get more expensive (but assuming interest in a savings account on that same money)
Not bad. The bigger improvement is that it is quieter, has better lighting, and it won't dump all sorts of extra heat into the kitchen.
What's interesting is that fridges don't seem to come with egg trays anymore, and they all seem to be optimized for gallon jugs and big things (and "snacks") and not 30,000 little bottles of jam and mustard and stuff. No "dairy" bin either.
Kenmore model 4658036
I had a Kill-A-Watt (power meter) on the old fridge.
Over 250 days (Mid winter through mid summer) it drew 1,143 kWh of power, or normalized per year, 1,675 kWh/year
The new one is rated by the manufacturer at 580 kWh/year. In the last day it's drawn 603 kWh/year, including most (but not all) of the startup/initial cooling hit. I've periodicly checked it, and the yearly estimate has gone down, so the 580/year seems pretty plausible.
Fridges use quite a lot more power in the summer than in the winter, for two reasons:
1) When it's warmer/hot in the kitchen, more cold is lost to the kitchen (more heat gets into the fridge)
2) when the kitchen is warmer/hot, heat transfer between the condenser is a lot less efficient, which requires the compressor to run more.
(assuming, of course, that you don't heat and air condition your house to keep the inside temperature the same all year.)
Anyway, ~1,050 kWh /year savings @ ~$0.20/kWh ≈ $210/year. Just about six years before it pays for itself assuming electricity doesn't get more expensive (but assuming interest in a savings account on that same money)
Not bad. The bigger improvement is that it is quieter, has better lighting, and it won't dump all sorts of extra heat into the kitchen.
What's interesting is that fridges don't seem to come with egg trays anymore, and they all seem to be optimized for gallon jugs and big things (and "snacks") and not 30,000 little bottles of jam and mustard and stuff. No "dairy" bin either.
