How to evaluate energy consumption in a fridge
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- Опубліковано 14 чер 2024
- This is an amateur video describing how you can accurately measure how much energy a fridge or other appliance is consuming. This data is useful if you are wondering if the system is beginning a progressive course of failure.
Many appliances such as fridges and air conditioners have a duty cycle that represents the fraction of time the motors need to take to do their job. As motor efficiency and refrigerant charge sags, the proportion of time they run will increase. This results in an increase in total energy consumption that can be measured and compared.
The device used for this analysis is the Ki**-a-watt energy meter, which has been around for many years. I've had mine for over a decade. There are many generic options available now although I’ve been pleasantly surprised at how accurate and inexpensive these tools are.
Whenever you are making a decision about whether your skill set is up to the challenge of DIY repair, always bear in mind the risks you take, both with reference to personal injury and equipment damage. Only you can evaluate your own skill set and stomach for risk tolerance. Any misadventure you have after making a decision to attempt at DIY repair is on you. - Авто та транспорт
Great video, keep up the good works, we need more people like u
Good information. Thanks. Yeah, those Kill A Watt meters are worth the money, even for just for the entertainment value of "testing" various appliances and devices around the house. And seeing your prybar just reminded me I had purchased a set of inflatable "air wedge bags" off Amazon with the intention of using it to raise my fridge for cleaning and adjusting to level.
Interesting video Dave! I didn't see the amperage with the compressor running. I would suspect around 10 amps or so. In any event, it's a nice tool to evaluate your voltage, current, wattage, power factor and KwH. Very nice feature where you can plug in your pricing per kWH and see how much your electrical bill will be over a period of time. Keep up the good work and have a great day! 👍
To my surprise, after running for a couple of minutes this little compressor doesn't take a lot of current, although I missed inrush current because it doesn't refresh frequently. As you say I would expect it to be much higher. With compressor and both fans running (fridge lights and motor for ice tray off), it drew only 1.8A, slowly dropping to about 1.4A after a few minutes. It was low enough that I questioned the accuracy of my device, so I used my clamp meter on a single hot wire to verify the finding as accurate. I'm sure it draws more during startup and during the defrost phase when the resistance heater melts evaporator ice.
Another great video. Your analysis is excellent, but my money is on the bet that your wife will get a new refrigerator anyway.
Interesting video. I would've figured a lot higher cost per year. Very important point on cleaning the condenser, especially if you have pets.
Another way to think about this is to calculate average power consumption for the entire year. $65.46/y * 1 kWh/$0.141 * 1y/365.25d * 1d/24h = 52.9W. So, energy consumption is equivalent to a 53W light bulb running continuously. Pretty good!. Even though peak compressor inrush current is going to spike up, once the motor produces back emf the current draw drops dramatically. These numbers were likely much higher when we had many people opening the fridge door, ha ha.
Wow, you've inspired me! Thanks for sharing this.
Hmm, while spelunking that rabbit hole it seems you've disrupted your good lady wife's interior decorating plans, I expect you had something fine to offer as a consolation. Happy father's day and I expect your canines were particularly kind and good to you today. Keep up these fine video demonstrations they have good use value. Was that the summer's sun god off to your right glimpsed at the end?
The coil should have stayed on the back where they rarely needed cleaning. The absolute worst place is on the bottom. My coil is an bottom-mounted, accordion-folded nightmare so you have to empty out the frig & lean it over against a wall to get any proper access to clean them.
Wow your energy is cheap!! We pay £0.31 per Kw/h + a standing charge per month. Thanks for sharing..
Yes. As you point out, comparison is tricky because many providers, including ours, have additional baseline charges added on. Like cell phone charges, you always end up paying more than you expect. In addition, our government provider punishes those who use more energy, ie progressive taxation. As lucrative government income from gasoline dries up, I expect rapidly escalating taxation on electricity to fill the void. Thank you for chiming in!