On 13 Feb 2006 15:42:53 -0800, "
wrote:

new fridges are way more
efficent


I beg to differ, but it all depends.

Really old fridges were DAMNED efficient.

Insulation sucks on the newer fridges, but they make up for it with
more efficient motors. It's a wash, really.

I'll keep my 30 year old Tappan (built by Amana) side-by-side another
20 years, probably, even if I have to change the compressor someday.
Second to Revco, Amana is tops, when it comes to medium-large
domestic refrigerators.

Yeah, it uses about 4 amps, at 30 to 40% duty cycle.
But no way does it use 400 kWh per month. It's low PF, and the
electric company hates low PF loads. The newer models might only draw
2 amps while running, but have a much higher power factor. Overall,
it saves on transmission losses, but Mr. Edison charges for kWh, not
KVAH. So yeah, in the long haul, newer might be "greener".

But they shot themselves down, in the early '60s, when they went
thinwall. Insulation is [almost] everything, efficiency-wise.
Those without gas or electricity, who have to buy (and haul) dry ice,
already realize this.



--
-john
wide-open at throttle dot info