How Much is Your Inefficient Refrigerator Costing You?

You refrigerator uses a lot of energy. It is probably one of your largest energy users in your home partially because you can’t just turn it off when you want to save energy like you can with other appliances like televisions or air conditioners. In order to save a significant amount of energy with a fridge you will have to upgrade to a more energy efficient model.

How do you know if you need to upgrade?

Energy Star has a calculator for you to calculate how much energy your current refrigerator takes up. You can use this calculator to decide whether or not you may need to upgrade to a new appliance that uses less energy.

Another way to know if you need to upgrade is the age of your refrigerator. New refrigerators are significantly more efficient than ones made in the early 2000s or before.

One last thing to consider is that extra fridge or freezer you may have in your garage or basement; some people have a second fridge or freezer for beverages or extra frozen food. Do you really need it? If you use it a lot, it is probably a good thing to keep, but if you find you aren’t using it very often, it is probably costing you more than it’s worth.

What do you look for in a new fridge?

Take a look at the efficiency of your options for new refrigerators. Energy Star appliances are good to look out for because they are more efficient than standard models. Also, take a look at the original cost of the refrigerator AND consider how much you will have to spend to run it. Be sure to take both of these things into account to be sure you’re getting the best deal in the long run.

Another thing to consider is to skip the ice maker and dispenser. This is not something you have to do, but ice makers take up quite a bit of energy, sometimes even doubling the energy use of the refrigerator.