# Refrigerator KWH test.



## Windy in Kansas (Jun 16, 2002)

One thing I had not tested until recently with my Kill A Watt meter was my refrigerator. It is larger than a dorm room unit but smaller than a true apartment sized unit. I don't find the cubic foot rating on it anywhere. It is a Chinese made Haier model BC117LW rated at 115 V, 1.4A, 60 hz, refrigerant 134a, 2.1 oz, high side psi 238, low side 103 psi.

For 350 hours which is short of 15 days the unit was metered. It consumed 4.91 KWH which is 4,910 watts which yields an average hourly consumption of 14.02 watts per hour. When the compressor is not running the refrigerator shows a draw of Â½ watt.

This might be useful information for someone considering going off grid and operating a small unit with PV panels. 

Almost forgot--if 10 KWH were consumed per month and cost 8Â¢ per KWH (normal here) it cost me about 80Â¢ per month to operate. Now you see why I have a tiny refrigerator instead of a giant one with ice through the door, etc. that gulps mega KWHs.


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## WisJim (Jan 14, 2004)

So you are using about 330 watt-hours a day. That is a bit more than our 17 cu ft Gibson/Woods unit uses (about 228watt-hr/day), and more than the old 12 cu ft coppertone Fridgidaire that my son was given last month. A lot of those small units use a lot of energy per cubic foot per month. The Energy Star website http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=refrig.pr_refrigerators has most current models of refrigerators and freezers, and I have found that all of the units that I have tested have used close to what the chart says, according to my Kill-a-Watt meter. The newer refrigerators and freezers use a lot less than many older models. We just replaced our 2 old 8 cu ft chest freezers with a new 21 cuft chest freezer, and it uses less power than either of the older smaller ones did, and we have 2 1/2 times the room.


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## Windy in Kansas (Jun 16, 2002)

I'm really impressed with your units. Maybe I didn't do so well by buying a small unit?

We used to always read that a refrigerator and freezer used about Â¼ of the total household electrical consumption.


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## OntarioMan (Feb 11, 2007)

Although I cannot remember the exact numbers, our full-size, run-of-the-mill 8 year old refridgerator/freezer uses about $3 per month at $0.12/kwh. 

With figures like these, it would make it hard to justify purchasing a new high-efficient unit - especially if you're on the grid.


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## Ross (May 9, 2002)

Well I forget the numbers but I split an old short extension cord and plugged my frig in through that and then checked it with my clamp meter Uei Pheonix and it was certainly chewing up an alarming amount of power! Pulled it out and cleaned the coils (yeah it was an oldie Frigidaire) and it pulled alot less power. Havn't checked the new one (Kitchenaide). It's a big side by side so I expect it to use some power, but it saves food and stores the farm meds so I'm not unhappy about it needing the resource. Good to check out options though!!


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## Jim-mi (May 15, 2002)

Whats scary is the amount of power used when these units go into the "defrost mode".
The refridg mode is almost tolerable but that defrost is a killer.


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## Windy in Kansas (Jun 16, 2002)

I made sure my unit required manual defrosting. If done every two weeks it takes about 10 to 15 minutes. I can easily do it while a meal is cooking.


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## Jim-mi (May 15, 2002)

Windy, good for you...(manual defrost)
But by far Joe Public gets sold a bill of goods on . . "auto defrost is more gooder" . . . .
"Oh it doesn't cost nuthing to defrost"
"Look at all the time and mess it will save you"
"You can keep your lazy grits in front of the tv"
"We would have to special order that manual defrost unit"
. . . and the BS goes on and on........


may be you can tell I've a thought or two about this subject.


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## WisJim (Jan 14, 2004)

When we bought our last refrigerator, a Woods unit with a Gibson label, we bought it in part because it was NOT frost free, and it was hard to find one like that.


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