3 ms·

What is the energy use of such an old fridge compared to a new one?

userbinator 6y ago
Much better than you'd think --- I have a late 30s Frigidaire which consumes a bit less than 300kWh/year, which is actually on the low side compared to some of the newest ones today. GE's famous Monitor Tops from the same era (which sell for absurd $$$ in working condition today) are also very energy-efficient: http://web.archive.org/web/20121218033749/http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/blogs/dept/musings/choosing-energy-efficient-refrigerator http://web.archive.org/web/20121218033749/http://www.greenbu... The ones with the highest consumption are the late 60s to 80s thin-walled ones (which makes for more interior space, but obviously less insulation) and those with defrost heaters. It's both depressing and a bit amusing, both from the point of view of historical accuracy and saving working products from being scrapped, that a basic search on how much energy a fridge uses turns up misleading results like https://michaelbluejay.com/electricity/refrigerators.html https://michaelbluejay.com/electricity/refrigerators.html --- that one cuts off at 1976, and is essentially claiming 2200kWh/year for all models before that year, which is a gross generalisation and exaggeration. 2200kWh/year is equivalent to consuming 250W for 24/7. The compressor in my fridge has a rated power of less than 100W, and certainly doesn't run 24/7.
- morsch 6y ago
  Here in Germany you have to try hard to buy a full sized freezer/fridge with more than 150 kWh/a. 75 kWh/a is not unusual. Maybe the benchmark is different.
- war1025 6y ago
  The thing I think is really interesting about this is the implication that efficiency got much worse before starting to get better. I guess intuitively that makes sense since the first refrigerators were probably upgraded actual "ice boxes", where efficiency is obviously very important.
  - userbinator 6y ago
    Electrical costs were also quite high --- many places still had not been electrified yet. Combine that with The Great Depression and efficiency definitely became a concern and marketing point.

Much better than you'd think --- I have a late 30s Frigidaire which consumes a bit less than 300kWh/year, which is actually on the low side compared to some of the newest ones today. GE's famous Monitor Tops from the same era (which sell for absurd $$$ in working condition today) are also very energy-efficient: http://web.archive.org/web/20121218033749/http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/blogs/dept/musings/choosing-energy-efficient-refrigerator http://web.archive.org/web/20121218033749/http://www.greenbu... The ones with the highest consumption are the late 60s to 80s thin-walled ones (which makes for more interior space, but obviously less insulation) and those with defrost heaters. It's both depressing and a bit amusing, both from the point of view of historical accuracy and saving working products from being scrapped, that a basic search on how much energy a fridge uses turns up misleading results like https://michaelbluejay.com/electricity/refrigerators.html https://michaelbluejay.com/electricity/refrigerators.html --- that one cuts off at 1976, and is essentially claiming 2200kWh/year for all models before that year, which is a gross generalisation and exaggeration. 2200kWh/year is equivalent to consuming 250W for 24/7. The compressor in my fridge has a rated power of less than 100W, and certainly doesn't run 24/7.

morsch 6y ago
Here in Germany you have to try hard to buy a full sized freezer/fridge with more than 150 kWh/a. 75 kWh/a is not unusual. Maybe the benchmark is different.
war1025 6y ago
The thing I think is really interesting about this is the implication that efficiency got much worse before starting to get better. I guess intuitively that makes sense since the first refrigerators were probably upgraded actual "ice boxes", where efficiency is obviously very important.
- userbinator 6y ago
  Electrical costs were also quite high --- many places still had not been electrified yet. Combine that with The Great Depression and efficiency definitely became a concern and marketing point.