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In the US (EnergyGuide) and Canada (EnerGuide) refrigerators are rated for expected energy consumption by the federal government. I've recently gone down the r

In the US (EnergyGuide) and Canada (EnerGuide) refrigerators are rated for expected energy consumption by the federal government. I've recently gone down the rabbit hole of new fridges (and am about to do so again) so this is all pretty fresh in my mind. In my case I was shopping for a fridge/freezer with about 19 cubic feet (or around 0.56 cubic meters) capacity – a rather average size, if a bit towards the small size in North America. The failed LG was rated at 387 kWh/year and its non-LG replacement was rated at 374–420 (depending on the specific build revision). So yeah about 10x tracks. At its core a refrigerator is a big insulated box with a heat pump and a heater. Manufacturers have optimized the living daylights out of these things. Big manufacturers (LG, Whirlpool, GE) have tried at various points to roll out more and more efficient compressors going back to the 80s. And they've all had a horrible time of it. There's not as much room for optimization with the heater, but most manufacturers have moved towards electronically controlled heaters that can run on demand instead of on a timer – works well until a thermistor fails. Samsung also tried to "optimize" the defrost heater by shrinking it (my impression is LG is that just as guilty of this) and you'll find plenty of complaints about problems with the evaporators icing up. Anyhow, out here, at least, smaller fridge/freezers including chest freezers are so-called manual defrost units and do not have a power hungry heater. If I had to guess I'd say the big difference consumption is due more towards running a giant heater in the back (a.k.a. auto defrost) than the overall size.

airbreather 4y ago
In land of Oz: According to the government site responsible for energy ratings - energyrating.gov.au, ‘Refrigerators and freezers have been required to display an energy label since 1986 and to meet minimum energy efficiency levels since 1999. As a result, refrigerators and freezers are now 70 per cent more efficient than they were 30 years ago’. New technology also mean that internal sensors inside the fridge can regulate the temperature so that the fridge is always running efficiently. Other innovations include temperature warnings and electronic temperature controls, humidity controlled compartments, and different temperature zones within the fridge according to the food to be stored. There are also ‘vacation’ settings which lowers energy consumption for the duration of your trip - you just need to remember to switch the setting off when you get home. Today every new fridge carries a red-star energy-rating sticker, giving it an efficiency rating and telling you how many kilowatts (kW) of electricity it uses in a year, given average usage. While energy-efficient fridges might cost more they can save tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions and hundreds of dollars over their lifetime through lower energy use. For instance, a 400 litre family fridge with a maximum six-star energy rating can use as little as 250 kW per year and cost you about $40 a year to run. A less efficient 500 litre model, on the other hand, could use 650kW a year and cost you more than $100 a year to run. That's a saving of $60 a year or $600 over ten years. And with electricity prices set to rise substantially in coming years, savings are likely to be even greater. https://hipages.com.au/article/energy_efficient_fridges_and_freezers https://hipages.com.au/article/energy_efficient_fridges_and_...
- inferiorhuman 4y ago
  Most of that seems pretty standard to me. I don't know when some of that stuff got phased in, but humidity controlled compartments have been around for ages. The shift to electronic controls probably happened around 10–15 years ago. Stateside the yellow "EnergyGuide" stickers were required by federal law beginning in 1980. These cover things like water heaters, fridges, dishwashers, and air conditioners. FWIW my one fridge is around 538 liters (~19 cubic feet) and is rated at 420 kWh/year ($50/yr at $0.12/kWh). Of course I'm not sure how the testing methodology compares to that of Oz.
Scoundreller 4y ago
In my opinion, they still suck at energy optimization. It’s an insulated box, like a battery, but they don’t take advantage of time of day electricity rates when they’re perfectly suited to that. Would be unfortunate for ice cream; but for everything else in my freezer, send it to 0 Kelvin.

airbreather 4y ago

In land of Oz: According to the government site responsible for energy ratings - energyrating.gov.au, ‘Refrigerators and freezers have been required to display an energy label since 1986 and to meet minimum energy efficiency levels since 1999. As a result, refrigerators and freezers are now 70 per cent more efficient than they were 30 years ago’. New technology also mean that internal sensors inside the fridge can regulate the temperature so that the fridge is always running efficiently. Other innovations include temperature warnings and electronic temperature controls, humidity controlled compartments, and different temperature zones within the fridge according to the food to be stored. There are also ‘vacation’ settings which lowers energy consumption for the duration of your trip - you just need to remember to switch the setting off when you get home. Today every new fridge carries a red-star energy-rating sticker, giving it an efficiency rating and telling you how many kilowatts (kW) of electricity it uses in a year, given average usage. While energy-efficient fridges might cost more they can save tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions and hundreds of dollars over their lifetime through lower energy use. For instance, a 400 litre family fridge with a maximum six-star energy rating can use as little as 250 kW per year and cost you about $40 a year to run. A less efficient 500 litre model, on the other hand, could use 650kW a year and cost you more than $100 a year to run. That's a saving of $60 a year or $600 over ten years. And with electricity prices set to rise substantially in coming years, savings are likely to be even greater. https://hipages.com.au/article/energy_efficient_fridges_and_freezers https://hipages.com.au/article/energy_efficient_fridges_and_...

inferiorhuman 4y ago
Most of that seems pretty standard to me. I don't know when some of that stuff got phased in, but humidity controlled compartments have been around for ages. The shift to electronic controls probably happened around 10–15 years ago. Stateside the yellow "EnergyGuide" stickers were required by federal law beginning in 1980. These cover things like water heaters, fridges, dishwashers, and air conditioners. FWIW my one fridge is around 538 liters (~19 cubic feet) and is rated at 420 kWh/year ($50/yr at $0.12/kWh). Of course I'm not sure how the testing methodology compares to that of Oz.

Scoundreller 4y ago

In my opinion, they still suck at energy optimization. It’s an insulated box, like a battery, but they don’t take advantage of time of day electricity rates when they’re perfectly suited to that. Would be unfortunate for ice cream; but for everything else in my freezer, send it to 0 Kelvin.