4 ms·

If you really wanted minimalism, you could get rid of the fridge, too. In its place you could put nothing. (somehow, nobody complains about the tyranny of cold

by abakker 10y ago

If you really wanted minimalism, you could get rid of the fridge, too. In its place you could put nothing. (somehow, nobody complains about the tyranny of cold beer, even when they have no other food or utensils in the house)

komali2 10y ago
On the other hand, what kind of electricity savings do you get from not owning a fridge? I'm not really joking - in Taiwan we ditched the fridge and gave up on cooking. Ended up saving ~50$ USD/mo because it turns out it's just cheaper to eat and drink out there than it is to cook in, combined with the fridge and stove electric savings. EDIT: I think it's worth noting that electricity was disproportionately expensive compared to other costs of living when I was there.
- abakker 10y ago
  Thats neat. I never would have guessed, but with energy star and cheap power in the US (along with having a home that is already cooled), fridges just don't use that much power by comparison. Am I right it assuming that going out was also relatively cheap?
  - komali2 10y ago
    Extremely so. I can't find my spreadsheet but IIRC I could buy Chicken at something like ~1.50 - 2USD/lb, and about ~1/3lb broccoli for like .25USD. So that's 1.75 - 2 for a cooked meal, or I could get a meal at a restaurant for ~.80USD to 1USD. It adds up, especially because I wouldn't just cook chicken and broccoli for every meal, and beef is shockingly expensive in Taiwan.
- ptaipale 10y ago
  >in Taiwan we ditched the fridge and gave up on cooking. Ended up saving ~50$ USD/mo A fridge uses something like 30 kWh per month. At 10 US cents per kWh, that's around 3 dollars per month. Even if the fridge is very old and eats twice or three times as much electricity, you can't really save 50 dollars per month from that. Electric stove is not much different, either. You must have miscalculated something. (According to [0], consumer price for electriticy in Taiwan is 9 cents per kWh. Cheaper than US, cheaper than in all EU countries except Bulgaria and Romania.) [0] http://www.eiu.com/industry/article/1670907751/taiwan-electricity-turning-on-the-lights/2013-09-02 http://www.eiu.com/industry/article/1670907751/taiwan-electr...
  - abakker 10y ago
    I think he meant that inclusive of giving up cooking, and the fridge, they saved $50 a month.
    - komali2 10y ago
      Yes, but I really wish I saved my spreadsheet I had, because somehow in Taiwan they were able to show us the meter for each room, and I remember looking at the kitchen the month after we gave up cooking and thinking "no fucking way." The guy with the KW/h calcs is right, it doesn't make sense when you do the math like that, but it was like 10 bucks a month in savings.
  - nommm-nommm 10y ago
    9 cents/kWh is very cheap. I pay over 13 cents/kWh.
    - ptaipale 10y ago
      Yes, and most Europeans also pay something like that. However, it still doesn't come even close to 10 $/month for a fridge.
      - legulere 10y ago
        Average price in the EU is 0.211€/kwH [1] which is 23 us cent/kWh. A modern fridge uses around 350kWh/a which is 80$/a which is 6.66$/month [1]: http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Energy_price_statistics#Electricity_prices_for_household_consumers http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/... [2]: http://michaelbluejay.com/electricity/refrigerators.html http://michaelbluejay.com/electricity/refrigerators.html

by abakker 10y ago

komali2 10y ago

On the other hand, what kind of electricity savings do you get from not owning a fridge? I'm not really joking - in Taiwan we ditched the fridge and gave up on cooking. Ended up saving ~50$ USD/mo because it turns out it's just cheaper to eat and drink out there than it is to cook in, combined with the fridge and stove electric savings. EDIT: I think it's worth noting that electricity was disproportionately expensive compared to other costs of living when I was there.

abakker 10y ago
Thats neat. I never would have guessed, but with energy star and cheap power in the US (along with having a home that is already cooled), fridges just don't use that much power by comparison. Am I right it assuming that going out was also relatively cheap?
- komali2 10y ago
  Extremely so. I can't find my spreadsheet but IIRC I could buy Chicken at something like ~1.50 - 2USD/lb, and about ~1/3lb broccoli for like .25USD. So that's 1.75 - 2 for a cooked meal, or I could get a meal at a restaurant for ~.80USD to 1USD. It adds up, especially because I wouldn't just cook chicken and broccoli for every meal, and beef is shockingly expensive in Taiwan.
ptaipale 10y ago
>in Taiwan we ditched the fridge and gave up on cooking. Ended up saving ~50$ USD/mo A fridge uses something like 30 kWh per month. At 10 US cents per kWh, that's around 3 dollars per month. Even if the fridge is very old and eats twice or three times as much electricity, you can't really save 50 dollars per month from that. Electric stove is not much different, either. You must have miscalculated something. (According to [0], consumer price for electriticy in Taiwan is 9 cents per kWh. Cheaper than US, cheaper than in all EU countries except Bulgaria and Romania.) [0] http://www.eiu.com/industry/article/1670907751/taiwan-electricity-turning-on-the-lights/2013-09-02 http://www.eiu.com/industry/article/1670907751/taiwan-electr...
- abakker 10y ago
  I think he meant that inclusive of giving up cooking, and the fridge, they saved $50 a month.
  - komali2 10y ago
    Yes, but I really wish I saved my spreadsheet I had, because somehow in Taiwan they were able to show us the meter for each room, and I remember looking at the kitchen the month after we gave up cooking and thinking "no fucking way." The guy with the KW/h calcs is right, it doesn't make sense when you do the math like that, but it was like 10 bucks a month in savings.
- nommm-nommm 10y ago
  9 cents/kWh is very cheap. I pay over 13 cents/kWh.
  - ptaipale 10y ago
    Yes, and most Europeans also pay something like that. However, it still doesn't come even close to 10 $/month for a fridge.
    - legulere 10y ago
      Average price in the EU is 0.211€/kwH [1] which is 23 us cent/kWh. A modern fridge uses around 350kWh/a which is 80$/a which is 6.66$/month [1]: http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Energy_price_statistics#Electricity_prices_for_household_consumers http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/... [2]: http://michaelbluejay.com/electricity/refrigerators.html http://michaelbluejay.com/electricity/refrigerators.html