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> Still can’t find a “smart fridge” that runs in ultra-chill mode when rates are cheap and backs off when they’re high. Kinda antithetical to use more electrici
by infecto 2y ago
> Still can’t find a “smart fridge” that runs in ultra-chill mode when rates are cheap and backs off when they’re high. Kinda antithetical to use more electricity to save but it’s true.
I don't believe there would be many if any cost savings from doing this. The engineering thought behind it would cost more than the actual savings. It would make a lot more sense to buy a chest fridge which I imagine uses half or less the energy of a typical standing fridge.
- xnx 2y agoThe only estimates I've seen say 10-25 percent more efficient.
- infecto 2y agoDepartment of Energy / EnergyStar state 50% energy savings for freezers. Freezer/fridge might not translate perfectly but I imagine a fridge is getting opened more often during the day which would skew that even more towards the chest being more efficient. Not sure how you come to 10%
- xnx 2y agoWow. That is a surprising number: "An ENERGY STAR certified chest freezer uses about 215 kWh of electricity and costs about $30 per year to run, while an ENERGY STAR certified upright freezer uses about 395 kWh of electricity and costs about $60 per year to run." https://www.energystar.gov/products/freezers https://www.energystar.gov/products/freezers
- bcrosby95 2y agoSo save $30/year increase the price of repairs and the chance of it breaking.
- infecto 2y agoHow does a chest freezer/fridge have increased chances of repairs?
- bee_rider 2y agoI mean it must have a downside because otherwise I’ll have to admit I’ve made a mistake by not having one already.
- infecto 2y agoThe downside is it’s a chest and does not fit any kitchen floor plan. You would need to purposefully put it in your plans.
- squeaky-clean 2y agoIt's far more annoying to fetch something from the bottom of a chest freezer than it is to fetch it from the back of an upright freezer.
- ghaff 2y agoAnd it can easily become essentially a black hole. Not that that doesn’t happen with my upright too. I’m split on whether I shouldn’t just have bought a chest freezer when I bought my spare freezer.
- BenjiWiebe 2y agoWe have two chest freezers and an upright freezer. The chest freezers outlast the upright freezer, and there's no shelves* to get in the way of optimal packing. *However, you have to unpack when you want something from the bottom. This is why we have an upright freezer. We store cheese curds from our dairy in it, and we want to access them quickly and easily and regularly. Also we use ice packs for shipping, and the shelves make it easy to freeze ice packs flat.
- 2y ago
- shagie 2y agoWhen you open the chest freezer, you don't have cold air "spilling" out of it. It remains in the chest. On the other hand, when you open a freezer that has a door on the front, a substantial portion of the cold air spills out of it. When freezers are coupled with refrigerators, the way that many of them work is by having the freezer air descend into the refrigerator through baffles (which again, makes the freezer work to cool the air that was exchanged with the refrigerator).
- Scoundreller 2y agoMost of the cold is in the solids and liquids though. That wonderful feeling of the cool gas leaking out leads people to overestimate how much cold falls out. Some more modern fridges/freezers halt the compressor/blower when the door is open which probably accomplishes more savings.
- robocat 2y agoI presume that turning over the air probably causes more icing in the freezer. Does a chest freezer have less of a problem with icing? And are they easier to deice? Modern freezers have automatic defrosting systems so maybe moot...
- Arrath 2y agoIt is kind of neat to watch the frost ring descend from the top of the chest freezer lower and lower along the walls. It is pretty easy to scrape off, too.
- j45 2y agoIf it's a freezer you use often, it's worth considering upright, because you want to be able to see, access and use most of the freezer, instead of just the top. Add to it small humans who may do the same and the $30/year in electricity differences can be dwarfed by the benefits of having a freezer contain meal prep, etc. Combining a small standup freezer with something like a Foodsaver is an easy win to reduce waste / thrown away groceries, as well as helping with off-season wishes. Buying less from the inflation fuelling large grocery stores is something that is well within reach.