With increasing pressure on families to "go green" it is bizarre that so few people know how much power they use when going about their day to day business. Your monthly utility bills can be a good indication of how environmentally friendly your household is - the more energy you waste the more money you pay- but do you know how much it costs you to boil a kettle or chill a drink? This article is a brief guide to how much it costs to run an average European fridge freezer and how to keep that cost down.
Indicators of Running Costs
All white goods sold within the EU are issued with an energy label that includes their energy rating and average annual electricity consumption. The energy rating translates how efficient the fridge is onto a scale that can be understood by laymen. Units which are at the top of the scale receive an A++ rating and those at the bottom are rated G. Most modern machines fit into the top three categories - the aforementioned A++, A+ and A.
Although energy rating is a good way to compare the offerings of different manufacturers it does not help when calculating the running cost - for that you need to look at average annual electricity consumption.
Energy consumption is measured in kilowatt hours (kWH). One kWH is the same as a one "unit" of electricity on your bill so by multiplying your cost per unit by the consumption of a refrigerator you can find out how much it would cost you to run that machine for a year.
Energy Saving Tips
Open it less - Every time you open the door of your fridge freezer a thermocouple registers the change in temperature and engages the motor on the compressor. This costs you money. Only open the refrigerator when you absolutely need to. Keeping an inventory on the door can help you keep track of what is inside so you never need to open it to check the contents.
Use a smaller door - Some manufacturers have developed machines which have a smaller door so that the change in temperature is smaller every time you take something out. Try to invest in a unit like the Hotpoint Quadrio or one with a mini-bar door.
Buy less more often - All freezers come with a maximum weight of food that they can safely freeze at once. Exceeding this by loading more than the machine can comfortably handle is not only bad for the flavour but is extremely inefficient. Where possible you should load small volumes of food at once.
Door alarm - Human error is one of the greatest sources of energy inefficiency so try to buy a fridge freezer that comes with a temperature alarm. If you accidentally leave the door open the alarm will sound and you can fix the problem as soon as possible - rather than discovering it too late to salvage any of your food.
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