Save money on your power bill – tips for efficiently running your fridge

October 3rd, 2012

Appliance Talk Environment, Energy & Water Saving Fridges & Freezers

Sometimes the real cost of a new kitchen appliance doesn’t become apparent until a few months after its purchase, when your next electricity bill arrives.  And with energy prices always changing, it’s always worth finding ways to reduce the amount of power your appliances guzzle.

Here are a few tips on how to keep an everyday fridge running efficiently and effectively:

Keep it full

Fridges operate by chilling the air inside them.  The more food and drinks you keep inside a fridge, the less room there is for air, meaning there’s less work for the fridge to do.

Even if you don’t have enough ingredients and leftovers to keep you fridge full all the time, you can still keep the appliance running efficiently by storing bottles of water – with the added bonus of having chilled water handy whenever you want!

Or, you could fill it with chocolate…

The same principle applies for your freezer – if you don’t have much frozen foods or ice cream available to take up space, keeping a few containers of ice standing by will let the freezer do less work and be handy for chilling your drinks as well.  You could also use vodka…

Don’t overfill your fridge of freezer though – that can prevent cool air from circulating properly, leaving some items lukewarm and others frozen.

Keep it shut

You know those door alarms that beep when you leave the fridge open for too long?  They’re not put there just to annoy you.

Every time you open your fridge door, the cold air flows out and the warm air flows in.  The more warm air there is in your fridge, the harder it has to work and the more energy it has to use.

So try to avoid opening your fridge more often than you need to – some newer-model fridges even include a smaller access door built in to the main door to give you easy access to your favourite items without having to open the whole thing.

Keeping the door shut can also help prevent an incursion of cats…

As well as avoiding opening your fridge too often and for too long, ensure that your door seal is kept in good condition, so there are no leaks.

Don’t put hot food in the fridge

If you’re putting leftovers in the fridge, or have just cooked something to save for later, let your food cool down first before it goes into the fridge.

If necessary, let your hot food chill out over some ice before you refrigerate it…

Hot food emits heat, which obviously isn’t welcome in a cool fridge.  It’s much easier for a fridge to keep cool food cool than to cool down hot food.

Cover up food with clingwrap

Not only does this prevent the spread of germs and odours though your fridge, but uncovered foods can release airborne moisture into your fridge, meaning the compressor will have to work harder.

Keep your fridge in a cool place

It’s not just good kitchen design to position your fridge away from your oven; it’s energy efficient as well.

When your fridge is in a warm place, it needs to work harder to maintain a cool interior temperature.  If it fits in your home, try to keep your fridge well away from sources of heat, including your oven, your dishwasher, and windows that provide a lot of direct sunlight.

Having a heat source ON TOP of the fridge just might be one of the reasons these things never completely took off…

Give it some space

Though the technology is advancing rapidly, many fridges require their condenser coils at the rear to have some open space around them in order to safely and efficiently emit waste heat.

Always measure your fridge space before your purchase, and leave some room at the back for your coils to ‘breathe’ so hot air doesn’t collect at the back.

Buy an efficient fridge

Always check the Energy Star rating of your fridge before you purchase it – the more stars, the more efficiently it will operate.

For example, the Electrolux ETM4200SC has a 4-star energy rating and uses non-synthetic refrigerant…

Of course, this doesn’t mean it will magically start reducing your power bills all by itself.  You’ll still need to keep the previous tips in mind in order to enjoy manageable utility expenses.

Relating back to the ‘Keep it full’ tip; try to pick a fridge that’s sized correctly for your household.  For example, if you live alone but have an enormous four-door fridge, it’ll be much harder to keep full and run efficiently.

Got a tip to save energy when running your refrigerator?  We’d love to hear about it – feel free to share below!