Today, we’re looking at ways to make your refrigerator run a little more effectively in order to keep those bills down. These are simple tips that should help any home!Here is a check-list of things that will help any fridge do its job more easily, and more efficiently.
Vacuum the Back:
The idea of pulling your refrigerator away from the wall isn’t exactly at the top of anyone’s to do list, but it can help so much. So much dust and dirt gets trapped behind your refrigerator (especially if you have pets) and this collects on the condenser coils. Once you’ve cleaned them off, the heat from your refrigerator will be able to be carried away without as much resistance, making your cycles run for a shorter period of time.
Check the Door Seal:
Use a thin piece of paper or dollar bill to check whether your seal is losing air. Hold it up next to the closed refrigerator door and see if it flutters at all. The rubber or plastic door seal on your refrigerator can be easily replaced and although it might seem like a pain, we promise it’s not. No one wants to pay to refrigerate their entire kitchen, especially when it’s only a few bucks for a new gasket!
Cover Everything:
Unless you’re keeping crackers in your fridge, most foods in there contain moisture. When left uncovered, foods will leach this moisture into the air and the compressor in your refrigerator will have to work twice as hard to remove it. (Plus, most foods will suck up smells of other foods and that just gets weird.)
Let Your Food Cool
Before Putting it Away: So you made a big batch of soup and you’re really tired. Sleep needs to happen ASAP, and you just don’t want to wait up any longer. Sure, you can toss it in the fridge, but your refrigerator will have to pull double duty to cool it down. Try to let foods sit as long as possible (without bacteria cooties growing) before putting them in the chill chest. (Or use this DIY ice paddle trick.)
Fill Empty Space with Water:
Using empty soda bottles, juice containers, or even store bought water jugs can help keep your fridge full when you aren’t packing it to the gills. It helps keep things cold so your refrigerator doesn’t have to work as hard. As an added bonus you will always have water for the zombie apocalypse.
The refrigerator is likely to be the largest single power-user in your home aside from air conditioning and water heating.
Refrigerator efficiency has made enormous strides in the past few years, largely due to insistent prodding from the federal government with tightening energy standards.
An average new fridge with top-mounted freezer sold today uses under 700 kilowatt-hours per year, while the average model sold in 1973 used nearly 2,000 kilowatt-hours per year. These are national average figures.
Unplug the extra fridge or freezer in the garage. The electricity the fridge is using—typically $310 a year or more—costs you far more than the six-pack or two you’ve got stashed there. Take the door off, or disable the latch so kids can’t possibly get stuck inside!
Move your fridge out from the wall and vacuum its condenser coils at least once a year. Some models have the coils under the fridge. With clean coils the waste heat is carried off faster, and the fridge runs shorter cycles. Leave a couple of inches of space between the coils and the wall for air circulation.
Check to see if you have a power-saving switch or a summer-winter switch. Many refrigerators have a small heater (yes, a heater!) inside the walls to prevent condensation build-up on the fridge walls. If yours does, switch it to the power-saving (winter) mode.
Defrost your fridge if significant frost has built up.
Turn off your automatic ice maker. It’s more efficient to make ice in ice trays.
If you can, move the fridge away from any stove, dishwasher, or direct sunlight.
Set your refrigerator’s temperature between 38 F and 42 F, and your freezer between 10 F and 15 F. Use a real thermometer for this, as the temperature dial on the fridge doesn’t tell real temperature.
Keep cold air in. Open the fridge door as infrequently and briefly as possible. Know what you’re looking for. Label frozen leftovers.
Keep the fridge full. An empty fridge cycles frequently without any mass to hold the cold. Beer makes excellent mass, and you probably always wanted a good excuse to put more of it in the fridge, but it tends to disappear. In all honesty, plain water in old milk jugs works just as well
