Refrigerator upgrade

[NW-Bound]

Really old refrigerators are energy hogs.

I had an old 18 cu.ft. fridge in the utility room as an auxiliary fridge to the large 30 cu.ft. main fridge in the kitchen. The smaller one might be 30 year old, while the large one was 15 year old.

One day, I bought a Kill-a-Watt meter, and decided to check them out once for all. The old small one measured 3.6 kWh/day, while the big one was 4.8 kWh/day. The power consumption of the small one seemed excessive, particularly as we do not open it constantly like we do with the big one. But as an overflow fridge, we just let it be.

The operating cost of that auxiliary fridge is $150/year, and we save more than that each year on grocery by using it to store good deals (we do not use a storage freezer). But I always wonder how better we could do with a newer fridge. We had been using it for more than 10 years, and that's $1500 in electric usage in 10 years.

How lower in consumption would a new fridge be? Note that because we do not open it often, the power consumption may be even lower than the specifications. Could I have bought a new fridge, given the savings I would have had over all those years?

Then, my brother-in-law sold his rental home and had a nicer 25 cu.ft. that he needed to get rid of. I took it to replace the old overflow fridge, and gave away the old fridge.

To my surprise, the new one clocked at 1.6 kWh despite being larger! Note that I measured the power consumption over more than 1 week to average out any daily variation during usage.

The difference of 2 kWh/day is about $0.24/day, or $90/year.

[Gumby]

Quote:

Originally Posted by davebarnes I would suggest replacing it with a Sub-Zero. This will force you to renovate the kitchen. Payback period will stretch to the horizon.

That's how I got my beer fridge - replacing it with a Subzero and renovating the kitchen. It makes the young wife happy, so the payback period is immaterial.

[Kwirk]

I avoid LG refrigerators. Our Kenmore (a rebadged LG) lasted only a few years and warranty service was impossible to get in a reasonable time. Our preferred appliance service company wouldn't consider repairing it because of the low payment from LG. Sears wouldn't be able to look at it for a few weeks and repair time would depend on available parts.

[Senator]

Here is a pretty good synopsis of what electricity may be saved.

Quote:

If your fridge was made before 2001, then yes, you should almost certainly trade it in. Older fridges are wildly ineffecient. The best modern models use less than half of what 1993-2000 fridges used. For older fridges it's even more striking: Replacing a 1992 fridge with a modern Energy Star model could save $1400 in electricity costs over the useful life of the fridge. So if you've got an old fridge, yes, trade it in. You might even be able to get a state rebate for buying an energy-efficient fridge. Your city or utility might have a rebate program, too. (Check with them.) If your fridge was made 2001 or later, it's a tougher call. https://michaelbluejay.com/electrici...igerators.html

[jazz4cash]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lewis Clark Some power companies offer rebates for buying energy efficient appliances. Check with your power company to see what they offer before buying a new refrigerator.

+1
Also, some local utilities offer a reward for replacing your old fridge. Ours pays $50 and picks up the old machine for responsible recycling/disposal. The old box must be working.

[Walt34]

Quote:

Originally Posted by zinger1457 If the old frig still works list it on Craigslist, if priced right someone will pick it up.

+1.

There are a couple of local businesses close by here that deal in used but functional appliances, obtained from moving sales, people redecorating and the like.

Rest assured that if it works and the price is right someone out there wants it.

[NW-Bound]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Senator Here is a pretty good synopsis of what electricity may be saved. Quote: Older fridges are wildly ineffecient. The best modern models use less than half of what 1993-2000 fridges used. For older fridges it's even more striking: Replacing a 1992 fridge with a modern Energy Star model could save $1400 in electricity costs over the useful life of the fridge...

Exactly my real-life experience.


.

[Dean56]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jazz4cash +1 Also, some local utilities offer a reward for replacing your old fridge. Ours pays $50 and picks up the old machine for responsible recycling/disposal. The old box must be working.

Same as where I live. The electric company pays $35 and will come and pick it up for free.

[NW-Bound]

Forgot to tell how I got rid of the old fridge.

Here, the city has "bulk trash" pickup twice a year. People would put things out on the curb during that time, and scavengers would patrol the streets during that time to pick up scrap metal that could be recycled.

It was during one such event that I was able to flag down a man, who was happy to haul away the still-working fridge that I already put out in the garage.

PS. No, the city will not pick up old fridges during bulk trash days. However, the still-working stuff will get picked up by scavengers.

PPS. Now that I learn about the $50 program by utility companies, perhaps that guy was happy to make the money that I missed.

[ERD50]

Quote:

Originally Posted by candrew +1 We live in a relatively small-ish home and didn't realize how much noise our 17 year-old fridge made until after we replaced it with a new one.

And our new one is noisier than the old one. The manual says these noises are due to the energy saving operations. I don't think you can generalize about this.

We have a 30 YO freezer, and a 26 YO fridge (beer/spare fridge) in addition to the 'new' one. I've done the math (similar kWh rates), and actually connected a 'Kill-a-Watt' meter for a month to get the get actual numbers. and I don't plan on doing anything until they die. And I think that's the best environmental choice as well, but these things are complicated.

-ERD50

[ncbill]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Senator Here is a pretty good synopsis of what electricity may be saved.

Slightly inaccurate...my 1996 side-by-side already had the extra insulation.

Energystar.gov used to have a calculator that allowed you to plug-in the exact model of fridge you had.

Whenever I did that the result was I would save ~$30/year by replacing with an energy star-rated fridge, but models with the same configuration/capacity cost ~$1,000.

[Qs Laptop]

Did a complete kitchen remodel in 2012. Replaced the existing run of the mill 18 year old Frigadaire appliances with new Whirlpool Gold appliances. Refrigerator, range, dishwasher, microwave. Subsequently the only thing that has NOT been repaired is the over-the-range microwave. All repairs were in the 2-3 years after purchase period. The "warranties" on this new stuff is only one year.

I did the repairs myself to save money. The new appliances are plasticky, cheaply built, and overpriced. I have zero confidence they will make it for 15 years.

My advice? If your current refrigerator is working and you are happy with it, don't replace it to save $10 to $15 a year in electricity.

[steelyman]

This thread made me realize something that should have been obvious.

I have an LG fridge, French door, freezer on the bottom. There’s an in-door ice dispenser for cubes or crushed and a bin in the freezer for extra cubes. It’s about 12 years old.

At some point I stopped using the in-door dispenser and just opened the freezer when I wanted cubes. That was probably due to bad experiences at a prior residence that had a similar fridge made by Samsung. The Samsung in-door dispenser was constantly locking up and/or hurling cubes all over the place.

But the LG seems fine so I’ll go back to getting cubes through the door rather than opening the freezer which can’t be a great practice for energy use or keeping frozen food frozen.

[SecondAttempt]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ndlex My only advice is to avoid Samsung appliances. I've got a 3 year old Samsung refrigerator that keeps freezing up every 2 months and has to be manually defrosted. When you do searches online you see this is a very common problem and one that isn't fixable.

Ditto! I have a 5 year old Samsung. I've loved it, and got a great deal on it. But, it has developed the freeze up problem about a year ago. It's extremely annoying and unpredictable. You find out when you come home to a fridge full of spoiled food at 55 deg. And the ice maker freezes up randomly and stops making ice which requires an extensive hair-dryer session. There are fix kits your can buy for the first problem for very cheap (~$10) but the original problem speaks loudly to the overall quality.

I've never had a fridge for less than 30 years so this is something new to me. I can't agree with the Whirlpool recommendation because I know a bit about their engineering - focused on cheap not reliable.

[bUU]

Quote:

Originally Posted by candrew We opted to *not* have an ice-maker with our new fridge. In the past, we had found the ice-maker/dispenser to be of some benefit when our kids were at home. That benefit was greatly discounted when we returned from a 10-day vacation to find that the water line on the ice maker had sprung a leak while we were away. Now that it's just DW & I, we old-school it with our new bottom freezer by filling plastic ice cube trays. The down side means having the first world problem of opening and closing the freezer drawer to get ice.

We went down a similar path, though not quite that far. When we move our new refrigerator will not have a water/ice dispenser in the door.

The problem is not making ice but rather making ice and delivering it through the door of a French door refrigerator (specifically). Though they've tried and tried, no one has really perfected an affordable means for that. I think ice dispensers are much more reliable when they are in the freezer compartment rather than in the refrigerator compartment, and when they just need to deliver ice to a bucket rather than having to traverse through a mechanical hatch in the door.

In addition to what we hope will be higher reliability, this will also have a side-benefit of reducing the water stains on the stainless steel door from drippage and such.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ndlex My only advice is to avoid Samsung appliances. I've got a 3 year old Samsung refrigerator that keeps freezing up every 2 months and has to be manually defrosted. When you do searches online you see this is a very common problem and one that isn't fixable. Stick with Whirlpool brands.

That's our plan.

Quote:

Originally Posted by davebarnes I would suggest replacing it with a Sub-Zero. This will force you to renovate the kitchen. Payback period will stretch to the horizon.

To a point in time that we have no hope of ever reaching.

[capjak]

Hate my 3 year old Samsung paid a lot of money and every week I have to unclog the ice maker as the cubes get stuck and than freeze up and can not make ice.....ugggg.....Hate it!

[meierlde]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bir48die We're in the same boat. Would love to replace what we have. After many discussions we will keep until it dies. Hopefully we'll be able to transfer the frozen items before they thaw. Then we'll just pull the trigger on something. I know what I want and we do have limitations on dimensions so cannot go with a gargantuan model.

for frozen thins some styrofoam coolers and dry ice wiil keep things frozen,

[Qs Laptop]

One thing I like about my Whirlpool Gold french door model refrigerator is that it has a filtered cold water dispenser on the inside of the left refrigerator door. Yes, you have to open the door and push and hold a button with your thumb, but not having the bulky water dispenser built into the door frees up a lot of interior space inside the door. This method of water dispensing is probably is a lot more reliable than through-the-door methods.

[Chapter 3]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gumby It makes the young wife happy, so the payback period is immaterial.

+1

[NW-Bound]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gumby That's how I got my beer fridge - replacing it with a Subzero and renovating the kitchen. It makes the young wife happy, so the payback period is immaterial.

Au contraire, I would say that the payback is immediate.