Are energy efficient fridge freezers worth it?

akira181

I'm needing to buy a new fridge freezer and I've been looking at energy ratings and the considerable price increase from A+ to A+++.

I see the labels have annual kWh ratings as well but I don't imagine there to be rigorous enforced standards to ensure all the stuff on the labels are consistent between brands and not tweaked for market appeal.

Main question is do you think a A+++ fridge is worth ~£1000 or should I just get an A+ fridge for £400? Will I see £600 in energy savings over the lifespan of a fridge?

*edit - a quick example to see if my thinking is correct

an A+ Samsung was rated at 314 kWh/annum at £499
an A+++ Samsung was rated at 191 kWh/annum at £929

Assuming an expensive 16p for a kWh, running costs are £50.24 and £30.56 per annum respectively. So paying an extra £430 for better energy efficiency to save £19.68 a year, it would take 21.85 years to break even.

So is there any point in paying attention to energy ratings if the manufacturer is going to take all your savings upfront?

Carrot007

The ridiculous a+++ nonsence is usualy only achieveable with a contrived usage pattern. eg. Not opening the freezer ever. And maybe programming usage patterson into it.


And even then it is not much imprevement.


Do as you like.

matelodave

I did a similar exercise a few years ago and came to the conclusion that an "energy efficient" fridge or freezer had thicker insulation which meant that it didn't have as much capacity as the slightly less efficient one, so although it may have used a bit less energy it didn't hold as much either.

Perhaps energy efficiency should also include kwh per litre of capacity.

We bought Hotpoint with a supposed A++ efficiency which suited our budget and the space that we had to accomodate it.

Biggus_Dickus

akira181 wrote: »

I'm needing to buy a new fridge freezer and I've been looking at energy ratings and the considerable price increase from A+ to A+++.

I see the labels have annual kWh ratings as well but I don't imagine there to be rigorous enforced standards to ensure all the stuff on the labels are consistent between brands and not tweaked for market appeal.

Main question is do you think a A+++ fridge is worth ~£1000 or should I just get an A+ fridge for £400? Will I see £600 in energy savings over the lifespan of a fridge?

*edit - a quick example to see if my thinking is correct

an A+ Samsung was rated at 314 kWh/annum at £499
an A+++ Samsung was rated at 191 kWh/annum at £929

Assuming an expensive 16p for a kWh, running costs are £50.24 and £30.56 per annum respectively. So paying an extra £430 for better energy efficiency to save £19.68 a year, it would take 21.85 years to break even.

So is there any point in paying attention to energy ratings if the manufacturer is going to take all your savings upfront?

There will undoubtedly be a climate ‘tipping point’ at some point in the near future and if you buy that cheaper fridge those extra Kwh’s it consumes may well take humanity over the precipice.

‘ القشة التي قصمت ظهر البعير ’ and all that malarkey,...and it could be directly attributable to YOU!

Could you live with that on your conscience?