I'm wondering if anyone knows of guidelines for determining how much
(extra) energy a freezer is likely to use when in a hot garage.

We "inherited" an older (probably from 1980s) freezer that we've been
keeping in our garage. Note: this is Texas - it gets awfully hot out in
the garage (90 is typical, better in the winter, of course). We're now
hooked on having the extra freezer space, but the energy usage is not
what we'd like (draws ~300W all the time, and ~500W when the compressor
is on). Unfortunately, we don't know how much of the energy usage is
due to it being an older, less efficient freezer, and how much of it is
due to just being in a hot environment, where it has to run the
compressor more often.

We're considering buying a newer, more energy-efficient, freezer but
only if it would save us significantly on energy costs. I expect the
"energy use guidelines" in newer freezers assume it's being kept in a
cooler environment, so I don't expect it's a reliable measure of what
we'd expect to use. Does anyone know how I might determine what the
"real" energy use for these might be, for my situation.

Thanks for any advice.

John Keyser wrote in :

Does anyone know how I might determine what the
"real" energy use for these might be, for my situation.

http://www.retrothing.com/2005/09/ultra_lowcost_e.html

--
Murray Peterson

Murray Peterson wrote:
John Keyser wrote in :


Does anyone know how I might determine what the
"real" energy use for these might be, for my situation.


http://www.retrothing.com/2005/09/ultra_lowcost_e.html

Thanks. I have something similar already (a Kill-A-Watt meter), and
it's awfully useful. I know what my current freezer is using. But,
what I'm trying to figure out is what I might expect a _new_ freezer to
run at - i.e. how close will the energy use guidelines it gives on the
product information sheet be to the actual energy use in my rather hot
garage. Obviously, I can't measure it with a meter, since I'd have to
first buy and install it in my garage.

Thanks for any advice.

John Keyser wrote in
:

Murray Peterson wrote:
John Keyser wrote in
:


Does anyone know how I might determine what the
"real" energy use for these might be, for my situation.


http://www.retrothing.com/2005/09/ultra_lowcost_e.html

Thanks. I have something similar already (a Kill-A-Watt meter), and
it's awfully useful. I know what my current freezer is using. But,
what I'm trying to figure out is what I might expect a _new_ freezer
to run at - i.e. how close will the energy use guidelines it gives on
the product information sheet be to the actual energy use in my rather
hot garage. Obviously, I can't measure it with a meter, since I'd
have to first buy and install it in my garage.

This paper is pretty good (see figure 5):
http://www.fsec.ucf.edu/Bldg/pubs/refrig/index.htm

--
Murray Peterson
Email:
URL: http://members.shaw.ca/murraypeterson/

Murray Peterson wrote:
John Keyser wrote in
:


Murray Peterson wrote:

John Keyser wrote in
:



Does anyone know how I might determine what the
"real" energy use for these might be, for my situation.


http://www.retrothing.com/2005/09/ultra_lowcost_e.html


Thanks. I have something similar already (a Kill-A-Watt meter), and
it's awfully useful. I know what my current freezer is using. But,
what I'm trying to figure out is what I might expect a _new_ freezer
to run at - i.e. how close will the energy use guidelines it gives on
the product information sheet be to the actual energy use in my rather
hot garage. Obviously, I can't measure it with a meter, since I'd
have to first buy and install it in my garage.


This paper is pretty good (see figure 5):
http://www.fsec.ucf.edu/Bldg/pubs/refrig/index.htm

That's excellent! Thanks a lot.

Am I the only one here wondering how this freezer can be using 300W
when the compressor is not running, and 500W when it is? That sure
doesn't sound right.

wrote:
Am I the only one here wondering how this freezer can be using 300W
when the compressor is not running, and 500W when it is? That sure
doesn't sound right.

Well, I'm only guessing it's the compressor, but I really don't know
much about how freezers work - maybe it's something else? I do know
that when it's in "making very little noise" mode, it's drawing ~300W
(my meter reads 307 or 308), and when it's in "making noise mode" it's
closer to 500W (meter is about 485). But, it never seems to drop below
300W (at least any of the couple dozen times I've spot checked it). If
you have any insight, please educate me!

Thanks...

John Keyser wrote:
wrote:
Am I the only one here wondering how this freezer can be using 300W
when the compressor is not running, and 500W when it is? That sure
doesn't sound right.

Well, I'm only guessing it's the compressor, but I really don't know
much about how freezers work - maybe it's something else? I do know
that when it's in "making very little noise" mode, it's drawing ~300W
(my meter reads 307 or 308), and when it's in "making noise mode" it's
closer to 500W (meter is about 485). But, it never seems to drop below
300W (at least any of the couple dozen times I've spot checked it). If
you have any insight, please educate me!

Thanks...


What I'm saying is that the compressor should be the largest load. If
there is a fan that is running all the time, one would think that would
be significantly less than the compressor.

wrote in news:1149177390.684052.12380
@u72g2000cwu.googlegroups.com:


Am I the only one here wondering how this freezer can be using 300W
when the compressor is not running, and 500W when it is? That sure
doesn't sound right.

You seem to be reading something I missed in the paper. Could you provide
a page number and/or paragraph that indicates this?

--
Murray Peterson

Murray Peterson wrote:
wrote in news:1149177390.684052.12380
@u72g2000cwu.googlegroups.com:


Am I the only one here wondering how this freezer can be using 300W
when the compressor is not running, and 500W when it is? That sure
doesn't sound right.

You seem to be reading something I missed in the paper. Could you provide
a page number and/or paragraph that indicates this?

--
Murray Peterson


I hadn't even read the paper. I was commenting on what makes sense.
One would thing the compressor is the largest load in the unit.

Now I have looked at the paper. Take a look at Table 1. It shows the
minimum usage at 22W during periods when the door was not being opened,
a min of 171W during period when door was frequently opened, while the
max is 447. That makes sense to me, as the peak is occuring when the
compressor is running. It sound like with min/ no fan it pulls 22W,
with fan it pulls 171W, with compressor and fan running it pulls 447.

That is a lot different than the OP's unit that is pulling like 2/3 of
max constantly, with or without compressor running.

wrote in
ups.com:

I hadn't even read the paper. I was commenting on what makes sense.
One would thing the compressor is the largest load in the unit.

Ah, now I understand (and agree with you).

[snip]
That is a lot different than the OP's unit that is pulling like 2/3 of
max constantly, with or without compressor running.

I agree -- the OP's unit sounds seriously defective.

--
Murray Peterson