A refrigerator is a necessary appliance, present in every home. Among the large appliances, it is one of the few that must always be in operation 24 hours a day. Therefore, it is essential to evaluate the potential electrical consumption of a refrigerator before buying it.
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The factors that determine the consumption of a refrigerator
How much does a refrigerator consume, on average? What are the factors on which consumption depends? A refrigerator has an average minimum power of 100 watts and a maximum of around 300 watts. The power is not enough to define the consumption of the single appliance by itself, which also depend on factors regardless of the power:
- The appliance’s energy class: a label is attached to each appliance that defines its so-called ” energy class “; the same label shows an average estimate of how many Watts the fridge in question absorbs on an annual basis. The energy class indicates the efficiency of the instrument, or it determines its consumption based on use. The most efficient appliances are those in class A+++. They follow classes A++ and A+, up to class F, last in terms of energy efficiency.
- The size of the refrigerator: a refrigerator can have a capacity of only 100 liters, as it often happens in single homes, as it can easily exceed 450 liters of capacity. It is good to know that – on average – consumption increases by about 10 kWh per 100 liters of capacity.
- The number of doors: given the same size and energy class, a refrigerator with more than two doors generally consumes more than one with a single door. As will be seen in detail, consumption can also be affected by opening the doors and positioning.
- Correct use: the refrigerator essentially consumes electricity to bring its cell to the right food storage temperature (ideally around 4/5°C). Placing the appliance near sources of heat or in scorching environments will lead to higher consumption. In addition, keeping the refrigerator door open for a long time will considerably raise the internal temperature, thereby entailing a great deal of energy expenditure to reach the storage temperature.
The energy class and the calculation of consumption
We have seen that the first factor to consider when establishing the consumption of a refrigerator is the energy class to which the appliance belongs. Going into detail, let’s see how much a refrigerator consumes every year, according to the energy class.
A number also indicates how many Watts are consumed each year by the electrician in question on the label showing the energy-efficiency class. So assuming the expense of £0.20 per 1 kWh, we will have a situation like this:
- CLASS A+++ refrigerator requires an average of 166 kWh per year for just £29 per year.
- The average consumption of a CLASS A++ fridge ranges from 166 to 263 kWh, which is resolved with an expense ranging from £29.3 to £46.5 each year.
- CLASS A+ ranges from 263 to 344 kWh of annual consumption, for an expense that can reach around £62 per year.
- CLASS A and B require 300 to 400 kWh per year, with a cost of between £53 and £70 per year.
- Scrolling through the ranking of energy efficiency, consumption, and related expenditure increases considerably, reaching the annual 700kWh required by a Class G refrigerator. Thus, it is possible to spend up to over £132 a year.
The energy class of a refrigerator can define its consumption up to five times, in the case of a not too sensible choice; t is good to consider, as a priority factor in choosing a refrigerator, the energy-efficiency class to which the appliance belongs.
Correct use of the refrigerator
The correct use generally begins with the purchase: choosing the capacity that best suits your needs can avoid unnecessary energy expenditure. For example, a 250-liter refrigerator will be enough for two people. For a single person, one with a capacity of 100 liters or a little more will suffice. Consumption increases, we have seen, considerably with increasing cell capacity. Therefore, it is an excellent habit to consider your real needs at the time of purchase.
Temperature stability and correct positioning of the refrigerator are equally important factors. In essence, the refrigerator should be placed at least 10 centimeters from the walls to allow sufficient ventilation of the condenser located on the back. It should also be positioned away from heat sources, which would make it more difficult to maintain the internal temperature, resulting in more work and consequent higher-energy consumption.
It is good to avoid storing hot food in the refrigerator, which would heat the cell by forcing the appliance to work excessively. Moreover, we have already seen that we should avoid long reflections in front of the open door of the refrigerator with equal care. Finally, it is better to open and close the fridge at a certain speed to avoid dispersing the cold and leaving the cell temperature as unchanged as possible.
Even filling the refrigerator too much, although satisfactory, is not particularly suitable for the correct and efficient use of the appliance: the fuller it is, the more electricity it will require to maintain the average storage temperature.
Some more precautions to limit consumption
The refrigerator is one of the few appliances to operate 24 hours a day and constantly works in terms of yield as much as consumption. Therefore, it is not the factors strictly related to use that affect consumption as those relating to the appliance’s characteristics.
For example, the so-called ” stand-alone ” refrigerators are preferable in terms of efficiency to the built-in ones, which tend to overheat too much due to the condenser’s poor ventilation area. Another precaution is in the model’s choice: refrigerators of all kinds and sizes: from the single door with freezer to the combined double-door, up to the ” French Door,” which has 3 or 4 doors.
As we have already seen, a refrigerator with multiple doors tends to have much higher consumption than a single door, which allows you to keep the internal temperature more stable.
For an ideal use of the refrigerator, it is considered that an orderly arrangement of the foods allows for more homogeneous and correct refrigeration. In essence, our fridge must have internal accessories (shelves, drawers, accessories) that best suit our needs.
As with the rest of household appliances, maintenance also plays an important role in defining energy efficiency. Regularly cleaning the coil and the refrigerator’s shelves and periodically defrosting the cell are habits that allow you to keep your fridge in the ideal efficiency status for as long as possible.