Fridge/Freezer power consumption analysis

ArbitraryRandom

MultiFuelBurner said:

It makes sense to me our older (left by previous owner beko freestanding fridge freezer 50/50 split we measured that at approx 200kwh a year).

Replace by our larger integrated Samsung Fridge Freezer 70/30 split and 30% larger capacity. This is going to use 330kwh a year approx

I wonder if the split of fridge and freezer effects. For example the larger the fridge section which is opened more and needs more cooling that the freezer.

I would think integrated vs freestanding might also be a variable - less ventilation around the appliance?

Largs

Hi.  Just to add some information to this.  I am getting electricity bills since my dad passed away. At his, the only thing switched on is the fridge freezer and I have turned this down to number 1.  Its a big fridge freezer from Currys, (no worries)  but forget the model, maybe Samsung.  The bill for this being on for a month is around £29 from British Gas.  I don't want to switch it off as I think you will get mould in it.  Most of bill is standing charges but still.

MultiFuelBurner

Largs said:

Hi.  Just to add some information to this.  I am getting electricity bills since my dad passed away. At his, the only thing switched on is the fridge freezer and I have turned this down to number 1.  Its a big fridge freezer from Currys, (no worries)  but forget the model, maybe Samsung.  The bill for this being on for a month is around £29 from British Gas.  I don't want to switch it off as I think you will get mould in it.  Most of bill is standing charges but still.

That bill will include standing charges for Electricity (does it include standing charges for gas as well)

Once you take those off a big american type fridge freezer can use quite a bit of power so that bill is not surprising. 

vic_sf49

Largs said:

Hi.  Just to add some information to this.  I am getting electricity bills since my dad passed away. At his, the only thing switched on is the fridge freezer and I have turned this down to number 1.  Its a big fridge freezer from Currys, (no worries)  but forget the model, maybe Samsung.  The bill for this being on for a month is around £29 from British Gas.  I don't want to switch it off as I think you will get mould in it.  Most of bill is standing charges but still.

Sorry to hear about your dad. 

If you dont need to keep anything cold, for if you visit for example, turn it off, defrost the freezer, and leave both doors ajar. 

nickwong

To save energy, I recommend defrosting food in the refrigerator. the cold from the product remains in the refrigerator and therefore the refrigerator turns on less often.

Chrysalis

mmmmikey said:

Gerry1 said:

Alnat1 said:

Is it worth getting a fridge/freezer thermometer to check the appliance is actually recording it's own temperature correctly? 

Absolutely, especially for older ones with mechanical thermostats that use arbitrary numbers (e.g. 1 - 9) rather than degrees.  Too cold and you're wasting expensive electricity; too warm and you're risking food poisoning.

I'll second that I got one of these for that very purpose:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B089ZWJDMV/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

As long as you stand close the bluetooth connection works fine from the outside of the fridge or freezer. I was surprised at how much difference tweaking the control on the freezer made. From the factory it maintained a temperature of -19C and used 400Wh per day. Adjusting it to the recommended -18C reduced the consumption to about 325Wh per day.

As an aside, I have separate fridge and freezer and they're both monitored with Tapo P110 plugs. Quite surprising at how much less the fridge uses when I'm on holiday and not opening and closing the door.

Thanks for linking it as well as your figures, although -20C is the lower range of the operating limit so cutting it close.  Will order one or two of them.  All the tapo plugs I own are the non monitoring variants, but might be worth me getting a monitoring one for the fridge.

I need to reset the watt meter I am using, but the cooling seems off noticeably more often after I set it to -18C.  Smart meter data, havent checked either since change.  Hence no new data yet provided on the thread.

Qyburn

Largs said:

Its a big fridge freezer from Currys, (no worries)  but forget the model, maybe Samsung.  The bill for this being on for a month is around £29 from British Gas.  I don't want to switch it off as I think you will get mould in it.

Standing charge should be around £15 a month. Switch the fridge freezer off, dry inside as best you can and leave the doors ajar (put something to stop them closing).

Even left running the fridge will end up with mould anyway unless you keep it so clean and dry there's nothing for it to grow on.

wrf12345

Defintely saving money just using a small freezer rather than ancient fridge/freezer (still use the fridge bit for storage but turned off) but can't recall the amounts (overall daily useage for everything is under 1.5kw) as switched a year ago.

Chrysalis

About 0.650 kWh for my first 24 hour period on Tapo P110 smart plug, the per hour consumption is about a 1/3 down when door is never opened.  So would be approx 237 for the year, but but bear in mind will be cooling more in summer, so actual annual usage will be higher.

This is with it set to 4C for fridge and -18C for freezer.

This seems notably lower than my original post as well.  Which was on -20C and higher ambient temp.

Qyburn

mmmmikey said:

I'll second that I got one of these for that very purpose:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B089ZWJDMV/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

As long as you stand close the bluetooth connection works fine from the outside of the fridge or freezer. I was surprised at how much difference tweaking the control on the freezer made. From the factory it maintained a temperature of -19C and used 400Wh per day. Adjusting it to the recommended -18C reduced the consumption to about 325Wh per day.

That's a great recommendation, I've ordered one. An added benefit will be to monitor during a power cut to check temperature hasn't risen too high.