Energy Efficient Refrigerator

These few days have been a very unpredictable days. There are times when there're heavy rains, and then there're times when the Sun is shining tremendously hot without any clouds at all. The temperature has been ranging in between 26-37 degrees Celsius. During the hot weather, we would usually get some ice-creams or cold drinks and we stored them in our refrigerator. We all know that the refrigerator is switched on 24/7 (meaning it is switched on although you are not using it).

So by knowing that the refrigerator is on all the time, how do we manage its usage so that the energy bills won't be that high? Well, according to a study done by the local authority, the electrical energy usage is about 8% of the total energy bill.

Although it is only 8% but can we further reduce it? The answer is yes, with the replacement of the old conventional refrigerator with an energy efficient refrigerator.

How Does A Refrigerator Operate?

We all know that refrigerator's function is to keep our foods and material under environment control, meaning the control of temperature. but do you know how the refrigerator system make it happen? In the refrigeration cycle, there are five basic components: fluid refrigerant; a compressor, which controls the flow of refrigerant; the condenser coils (on the outside of the fridge); the evaporator coils (on the inside of the fridge); and something called an expansion device. Here’s how they interact to cool your food.

The compressor constricts the refrigerant vapor which will result in raising its pressure, and then pushes it into the coils on the outside of the refrigerator. 

When the hot gas in the coils meets the cooler air temperature (ambient temperature) of the kitchen, it becomes a liquid. 

The liquid form is now at a high pressure condition, so the refrigerant cools it down as it flows into the coils inside of the freezer and the fridge. 

The refrigerant absorbs the heat inside of the refrigerator and thus cooling down the air. 

Lastly, the refrigerant evaporates into a gas and then flows back to the compressor, where the cycle starts all over again.

Old vs New

So now you will ask: Why would I change to a newer energy efficient refrigerator when I have the old non-efficient refrigerator still working in my kitchen? 

The answer is that you do not need to change it now but just need to understand the "whys" before considering it.

1) You pay twice for an inefficient refrigerator.

If you have an older fridge, it's getting cool on the inside by running a motor that makes the room itself warmer, just like a heater would. If you have air conditioning, it has to work that much harder (also using electricity) to remove the heat from your house — so there's a double-whammy penalty for having an inefficient fridge.

2) New Energy Star models are much, much more efficient than older refrigerators.

By replacing an older fridge (eg. 1998 model) with an Energy Star model (of the same design, size, etc.) that you could buy today, you would use less than 1/2 the electricity. If you got a more efficient design (i.e. freezer on top instead of side-by-side), it would use 1/4 as much. If you got the most efficient model of the most efficient design, it would use about 1/6th as much electricity. And none of this accounts for the important point that all of that inefficiency is released in the form of heat, which makes your house hotter!

Cost

Fridges and freezers like other white goods, are rated according to their energy efficiency. The Energy Commission Energy Label grades products from 5 (best) to 1 (worst) for energy use. Top performing products carry the Energy Saving Recommended logo, which means the product meets strict criteria set by the government and the Energy Saving Trust. That means you can trust the energy ratings that are handed out.

But, with fridges and freezers, this isn't the only consideration. The EC rating is a rating based on energy consumption per litre or cubic foot of storage, and it's easier to make a machine more efficient if it's larger. So a larger A-rated fridge may be more energy-efficient, but can consume more electricity than a smaller B-rated model.

That's why it's important to buy the smallest fridge and/or freezer you can for your needs, because typically a smaller appliance will cost you less to run. To determine running costs and to compare them across different makes and models, look at the annual consumption figure in kWh, which can also be found on the energy label. The lower this figure the more economical the fridge will be to run.

If you're choosing a new fridge and freezer it's worth remembering that a unit with the freezer on top, or underneath, the fridge is more energy-efficient than a side-by-side unit, which uses up to 20% more energy. So, if this will fit in your kitchen, it's definitely the most efficient option.