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#1
06-19-2021, 11:28 AM
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OT: The cold elephant in the room...
So, let’s talk about the elephant in the energy room…your refrigerator.
I’ll posit that it’s probably the largest waste of human consumed energy on the planet. Yet rarely ever talked about when people start talking about energy waste. It’s a large appliance that the vast majority of people on this planet own and use. Many people own and use more than one. It runs 24/7/365 to maintain set temperatures…and every time it gets opened all that cold air that was produced gets dumped on the floor (cold air decends) and wasted. It has to work overtime to produce more cold air until it hits the set temperature, then has to maintain it until the next time the door gets opened. How many times a day does your refrigerator door get opened? How many times have you, or someone in your family opened the door to only stare in the fridge wondering what there is to eat in there? I’m not advocating for the abolishment of the refrigerator, but more just commenting on what seems to be an overlooked/forgotten/ignored huge waste of energy. It would seem that a changeover to a chest style fridge would eliminate all that waste. When the door gets opened all that cold air would be contained making it work significantly less on a daily basis. I’m fully aware that a chest style fridge would take up a larger footprint, and there are a small percentage of people who might have difficulty using one, but overall it would be a significant dent in energy usage and waste. For people who go off grid, this is one of the main things they do to minimize the draw on the batteries. I mean, if energy waste is a big deal to people, then this seems like low hanging fruit…but fruit that seems to mostly be ignored. Anyway, just my green thought for the day.  W. PS: Refrigerators are historically a-political so this shouldn’t really run in that direction. 
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#2
06-19-2021, 11:31 AM
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They make under counter refrigerated drawers....
Typically for large high end home kitchens, cuz you give up storage space. Most people could probably get by with smaller fridge, and more frequent trips to the grocery / market....depends where you live and how convenient this is for you.
__________________
2003 CSi / Legend Ti / Seven 622 SLX
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#3
06-19-2021, 11:35 AM
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Perhaps refrigerators should be built more like chest freezers, where you open a lid on top. That way the cold air stays more so intact when opening the lid, perhaps? Probably much too inconvenient for most people to bend over and root around a fridge design like that.
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#4
06-19-2021, 11:39 AM
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I have not really thought about that. I will now be more conscious of how often I open the fridge at stare at it then close it. My wife says it is a guy thing we open the fridge and or freezer and stare then close it.
Here is an interesting idea how about clear doors we can see through, insulated of course. Good topic
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#5
06-19-2021, 11:41 AM
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Quote:
W.
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#6
06-19-2021, 11:45 AM
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I think home construction and utilities are of far greater concern. You can live without AC, but people have multiple units hanging out of their windows so they don’t have to be hot! Never mind sitting cars idling to stay cool/warm… Refrigerators keep your food fresh and who wants to live in a world with warm beer?
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#7
06-19-2021, 11:54 AM
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Quote:
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#8
06-19-2021, 12:21 PM
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Technically a chest style fridge would keep your beer (and food) at a more consistant temp. No temp fluctuations every time the door is opened like an upright...plus the benefit of much less wasted energy. WIN WIN!!   W.
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#9
06-19-2021, 12:22 PM
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Refrigerators have gotten a lot more efficient, buy a new one if yours is a decade or more old. But it's only barely worth it. Replacing your light bulbs with LED is probably a bigger savings.
Cooling and heating: 47% of energy use. Water heater: 14% of energy use. Washer and dryer: 13% of energy use. Lighting: 12% of energy use. Refrigerator: 4% of energy use. Electric oven: 3-4% of energy use. TV, DVD, cable box: 3% of energy use. Dishwasher: 2% of energy use. If we really were going to do something about refrigerator energy use, getting rid of side-by-side freezer refrigerators would be the first step
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#10
06-19-2021, 12:24 PM
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A quick google search finds that relatively new refrigerators cost on average $18-$27 per month to operate. I agree with Dusty, focusing on the refrigerator while ignoring the bigger energy users such as AC, heat, hot water, and lighting is unproductive.
My electric bill is about $200 month, down from $400 in the winter. The now replaced electric furnace (giant toaster with a fan behind it) was the biggest culprit. The electric water heater is now the lowest hanging fruit, I estimate it's about $80 month, it is next on the list for an upgrade.
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#12
06-19-2021, 12:32 PM
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Quote:
Also, if the fan was interlocked with the door so it shut off when the door opened less air would be lost.
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#13
06-19-2021, 12:47 PM
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Not to mention if you have a growing teenager in the house...
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#14
06-19-2021, 12:56 PM
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Air conditioning was invented in 1902 and is arguably responsible for expansion in the Southwest US. Phoenix has just under 2 million people in the metro area, Tucson, about a quarter of that amount. That population would not exist without air conditioning. Much of Southern California would be undeveloped arid land without A/C. I'm driving up to Las Vegas in a few hours, the same thing, it would have never become a metropolis. It will be 111 degrees here today and I'm sitting in a 75 degree house.
Much of our woes out west are blamed on climate change. The biggest culprits are those of us who live here. We have too many people for the resources. Lake Mead is at a record low level, the Hoover Dam generating station is well below capacity, and there's no end in sight to the drought. NW Arizona and southern Nevada are building solar fields and erecting wind turbines at a rapid rate because of additional demand and the shrinking resource of hydroelectric power. The Colorado River cannot provide enough water for all the predetermined allocations to cities and agriculture. Farmers will get cut off this summer and have to leave their fields fallow. We, as a nation, developed this portion of the country that had no business having this number of people. We built heavy industry in SoCal to support WW2, millions moved for jobs that further tapped natural resources, and folks moved to Arizona to escape the winters of the north. Cities like Phoenix shouldn't exist, but they do. I'm in Mohave County and we're in a housing boom with some industries moving here from California. We have deep wells for water which may last another 100 years, but not at the rate we're expanding.
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#15
06-19-2021, 01:01 PM
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I would say: depends. Depends on what the testing guidelines were. Do they take into account real world usage? A fridge just running over x period of time would be very different than one running over X period of time and being opened and closed constantly. Those other appliances, when off and not used...are off. No or very little draw. Most household lights tend to only be on early morning and evening, then off during the day and at night. AC can be a big draw, but only in certain geographic locations and not in others. As I mentioned earlier, most people on the planet have a fridge and it runs 24/7/365. No matter how efficint new fridge motors are now, put the same in a chest style fridge and it will out perform it. I still think there is a real difference between real world usage and mfr tenting numbers. That's like...my onion man! W.
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