Freezer Electricity

Adams_Dad

As fridge freezers can retain coldness due to insulation (so long as the doors are shut) would it be cheaper (and safe) to use a timer to turn the fridge on or off every hour or two?

Belenus

Adams_Dad said:

As fridge freezers can retain coldness due to insulation (so long as the doors are shut) would it be cheaper (and safe) to use a timer to turn the fridge on or off every hour or two?

That is unlikely to make any significant difference. Set the thermostat(s) correctly and let it/them do their job.

Any electricity saved during off periods will be used to return the f/f to the correct temperatures.

Even if there is a small saving in electricity consumption due to the lower temperature gradient at times, you run the risk of food spoilage if the temperature rises too high and you also run the risk of premature failure of the f/f due to frequent power outs.

FaceHead

It wouldn't save any electricity - if anything it'd probably make the freezer run less efficiently and use more electricity. If it did help, the designers would design it just like this. 

To actually save electricity on the freezer you could turn it down (i.e. less cold).

The cold it 'looses' through the insulation, and therefore the electricity you need to put in is proportional-ish to the temperature difference between the inside of the freezer and the room. Going from -20C to -15C in a 20 degree room would save you something like 12%.

Turning it off for a bit, and then putting it back on would have the same effect of your food being a bit less cold for a time, but would mean the freezer has to play catch up when it comes back on, and would probably be playing catch up less efficiently, using more electricity overall. 

chrisw

I wouldn't have thought cycling the power would do the fridge freezer much good either so any possible savings might have to be offset against repair or replacement fridge freezer costs.

[Deleted User]

Not good for the food in your freezer!  when you get into a cycle of the warming and cooling it can cause freezer burn.

Tranboy

There are some prepping websites that talk about this due to people being off grid using solar and wind power. Buy an A++++ freezer and make sure to have one inch of clear space above the food in every shelf.

shiraz99

As already mentioned, unlikely to make any difference in electricity usage, in fact I would make a guess that it may increase your usage as it's fired back up again. Also, it will likely reduce the life of the freezer with you constantly switching it off and on. 

casper_gutman

Your freezer already works by using a thermostat to switch the compressor off so that the interior repeatedly warms up a little bit before turning it back on so it is cooled back down to a target temperature. The clever thing about the thermostat is that it knows when to turn the power back on based on the temperature in the freezer.

If you try to also switch off the power for fixed periods of time (as well as based on temperature) then either the time it's off will be too short to make any difference, as the interior will already be cold enough when the power comes back and the compressor would have been off the whole time anyway, or it will be off for too long and the food in the freezer will warm up, worsening freezer burn and ultimately making the food unsafe to eat.

fenwick458

if you are that keen to save electric a simple idea I can think of is put a whiteboard nearby, write all the contents of the freezer on it and keep it up to date. that way you'll minimise the amount of time the door is open looking for something, of opening just to check if you have something.

casper_gutman

fenwick458 said:

if you are that keen to save electric a simple idea I can think of is put a whiteboard nearby, write all the contents of the freezer on it and keep it up to date. that way you'll minimise the amount of time the door is open looking for something, of opening just to check if you have something.

Good idea to keep track. A paper or computerised list could work just as well though - no need to buy a whiteboard! If you spend money I doubt you'll ever see a return on it from the energy savings.

fenwick458

I thought a whiteboard was a cheap and flexible idea, means more than one person can use it.
I suppose it's up for debate at what point you say its worth it, smart fridges and freezers now have tv screens on the front and cameras inside for the same reason, so you don't have to keep opening the door (and letting the cold out) just to see what's inside. maybe one day the price of that technology will be so cheap it'll be on all fridges and will make sense as energy costs rise