A couple months ago there was a lengthy discussion here about how much
energy a new refrigerator uses versus an old one. It started with
the claim made by the EPA that a new energy star refrigerator uses
half the electricity of a 15 year old one. I just replaced my 24
year old Frigidaire 24 cft side by side with a virtually identical
Kitchenaid energy star refrigerator. I did some testing using a
Kilowatt meter before and after and thought I would share the results.

Before doing anything, I went to the Energy Star website where they
have a calculator to estimate how much energy you will save. The
calculator lets you put in your existing fridge make and model number
and cost of electricity, then it tells you the difference in estimated
energy usage. For my case, with electricity at 16 cents a kwh, this
is what it came up with:


Yearly electricity used:

24 year old Frigidaier $327

New Energy Star $91

Savings $236/yr

And then the calculator goes on to say that in five years, that would
pay for a new $1180 refrigerator. That sounded too good to be
true. So, I wanted a new refrigerator anyway, but decided to take
some actual measurements for a couple days of typical use before and
after. I tried to keep the comparison as close as possible. Both
were with units stabilized, ice makers off, no new items added, about
same number of door openings, same temps, etc. Both were also side
by side, with ice and water in the door. Old one was 24 cft, new one
is 24.5 cft.


Here's what I found:

24 year old Frigidaire $185

New Energy Star $90

Savings $95/yr


Those results were more in line with what I would have expected. You
now have a 12 year payback time, not the claimed 5 years. It would
be interesting to know exactly how the EPA is calculating the energy
usage of the old fridge. I would not be surprised that they are
assuming leaking door seals, condenser coils covered in dirt, and who
knows what else. In my case, the old one was still in relatively good
shape.

Bottom line, if you're considering a new fridge, energy star or even a
new non-energy star is going to save you a reasonable amount of money
each year compared to 24 year old unit and can help justify getting a
new one. But don't believe the hype about it paying for itself in 5
years.