Is your refrigerator running?

Quote: onenickelmiracle

Refrigerators aren't supposed to be placed outside, so I've heard they run worse than designed because they're not designed to be in non climate control areas. I think that's why our refrigerator croaked because we didn't use our air-conditioning and our house got to be 78-80 inside. Yet yours survived long enough to be considered rather old.

We bought a dorm-sized refrigerator for our daughter in 2009. When she graduated in 2013 we used it outdoors on our deck, usually from April until October, when we then unplugged it until the next year. It just died this spring, making it about 8 years, which is what someone else said they usually last.

I replaced it for about $100 with a cheapie from Best Buy that I expect to last about the same.

Quote: DRich

The refrigerator in my garage is rather old and seems to run 24 hours a day in the summer. I have no idea how to determine how much that is costing me and whether it would be worth it to replace it. Assuming a similar new unit would cost $800 if I could save $20 a month in the summer It would be worth the investment.

Check your electric meter, see how much you use for say 30 min without AC or heat for the house. Unplug the one in the garage. Measure 30 min use. Do some math :-)

Cannot be topped in bad name game.

Quote: terapined

Check your electric meter, see how much you use for say 30 min without AC or heat for the house. Unplug the one in the garage. Measure 30 min use. Do some math :-)

Don't forget to unplug the water heater as well for this experiment (assuming it is electric). You could also get a power meter. They run about $20.

Edit -- on second thought, the checking your house meter experiment may have too many variables to be accurate. For example, since the fridge (compressor) cycles on and off based on outside factors (ambient temperature), you would get high readings during the day and low readings if you did this at night. Also, the fridge inside the house would be cycling as well, unless you unplug it, too. Some electronics (I'm looking at you, cable box!) draw a significant amount of power, and consumption may not be constant, depending on what tasks they are performing.

If you really want an accurate power consumption numbers, I'd go with the Kill-a-Watt meter/monitor. It can accumulate power data over time so you can get an accurate average.