Cost of running a freezer

Happy_Sloth

We are being moved on to the standard variable rate of 21.99/kwh at the end of the month for electric.  This quite a hike from our current rate but with the madness in the energy market we may need to suck it up until things settle down. 

We have 2 freezers in the basement,  a HUGE Modern AA Rated Chest Freezer (750ltrs) and a very old 110ltr one.  We know we need to replace the older one but it hasn't been a priority.  

I was trying to figure out with the price rises if we need to make replacing the small chest freezer a priority. 

I dug out some power monitors we've got and plugged them in. Set them to run and 12 hours later i'm trying to understand the results! 

It's this monitor : https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B085NBT65X/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 


On the Cost Screen i set it to 21.99 ... and the manual says it tells you the price but after 12 hours the big freezers read out said the cost to run it was 10.51 and the little freezer said 15.74.  So assuming thats pounds and pence im guessing i should have set the cost to 00.22 not 21.99 as my electric bill while high it's has never suggested i'm using £30 per day to run one freezer!  Or is that 10p and 15p for 12 hours.. so confused! 

If i'd have set it to 0.22 that would have been £1.05 for the big freezer and £1.57 for the little one which seems little more realistic.... although still high. 

Over a month that equals (£31.50 + £47.10 = 78.60)  to run both freezers.  Which is quite alot but would go part way to explaining the mystery of why i spend £200+ per month on electric despite not running a cannabis farm.    

... However i'm still not convinced that i'm reading this right...  So can anyone who understand these stupid things take a look at my numbers. 

the KWH Display for the 2 freezers after 12 hours is as follows (but i'm not sure if thats TOTAL KWH for the 12 hours or Per Hour?!  the display seems to be accumulative as the number go's up the longer it's plugged in, which suggests accumulative) 

• Big Modern Freezer =  0.281 KWH  
• Old knackered freezer = 0.716 KWH 

Don't get me wrong the 2 numbers above alone suggest it's costing 3x as much to run the old freezer v's the new one which alone suggests that it's wasting money and should be replaced.  

However i'm very much trying to track down what in heavens name is costing me between £200 - £300 a month in electricity so i really need to figure out how read this stupid power monitor.  








  

RecoveringAndy

The only figures you need here are...

£0.2199 /kWh

• Big Modern Freezer =  0.281 KWH  
• Old knackered freezer = 0.716 KWH

You measured those other 12 hours so they can be translated to..

0.0234KW (0.51 pence) per hour and 0.0596KW (1.31) per hour.

So about 44 pence / day to run them both.

Happy_Sloth

RecoveringAndy said:

The only figures you need here are...

£0.2199 /kWh

• Big Modern Freezer =  0.281 KWH  
• Old knackered freezer = 0.716 KWH

You measured those other 12 hours so they can be translated to..

0.0234KW (0.51 pence) per hour and 0.0596KW (1.31) per hour.

So about 44 pence / day to run them both.

Ok so thats about £13 a month... so the £200 a month Mystery continues! i was so hoping it was just the little freezer.  

QrizB

I've got one of those meters and they're a little bit idiosyncratic.

Putting the unit rate in as 21.99 (pence) means the total costs displayed are also in pence. I would tend to believe it when it says 10.51 and 15.74 pence for 12 hours, so 52p/day. These numbers are quite close to the 44p/day the other poster calculated.

A modern small freezer is rated as using around 200kWh per year, roughy 40% of the energy your "old knackered freezer" uses. Put another way, spend £150 and you could save £60/yr.

Verdigris

My rule of thumb for refrigeration running costs is £12 per appliance per year. Sadly, that has now become £20 each, under the current pricing regime and will probably be £25 per item come April. This is assuming reasonably new appliances but they don't have to be fancy brands. As QrizB says, a cheap replacement freezer will soon pay for itself, in fact the payback will be dramatically shortened with the way energy prices are going.

matelodave

If you dont know what is using all your leccy then you need to do an energy audit. It's not hard but takes a bit of effort.

Look at everything that you've got that uses leccy (and I mean everything) turn off stuff that doesn't need to be on (ideally at the wall rather than leaving it on standby). Read the meter before going to bed and then again when you get up (before turning on lights or boiling the kettle). That should give you a rough idea of your energy baseline (ie what you use when you are asleep and stuff is turned off)

You can then work your way around your appliances and stuff to see how much they consume - either use your energy monitor or read your leccy meter. Once you know what stuff uses you can decide what needs to be left on and how to use it more economically.

The things that use most are cookers, hobs, washing machines, dryers, dishwashers, electrical heaters, underfllor heating etc. (stuff with heaters and motors) Dont forget your immersion heater if you've got one.

Only use the washer, dryer and dishwaher with full loads, they dont use any less energy when half empty. LED bulbs can save a fair bit over a year as they use 90% less energy than the equivalent incandescent light bulb. Do you really need to run two freezers?