# Chest Freezer Fridge - 0.1 Kwh Per Day!



## Cortez The Killer (9/11/07)

I bought a little gadget from JayCar the other day to measure how much electricity various devices use 

I've had it hooked up to my keg fridge - It's an old kelvinator (20+ years old - 480 litre) - As it got the blame for the increased power bill last quarter

I've got it rigged up with a fridgemate set to 5*C, 2*C degree tolerance and the probe is shoved in a piece of polystyrene - which dangles in the fridge

Having run it for 3 days with the device - it's chewed up just over 6kWh and cost 98c to run

That's about 33c per day or $120 per annum

I was surfing the net and came across this very interesting article

http://mtbest.net/chest_fridge.pdf

It suggests that a converted chest freezers can be run at as little as 0.1kWh per day or about $6 per annum (assuming 16c per kWh)

So I guess the moral of the story is converted chest freezers can be used not only in craft brewing but to also save $ in the household budget

And that fellow brewers should lean toward a chest freezer when setting up a keg system or even for everyday household use

It goes to show that a free fridge may not be as "free" as one would have initially thought

Now all I have to do is convince SWMBO that converted chest freezers are the way of the future!

Cheers


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## Thirsty Boy (9/11/07)

Hey Cortez, what is that jigger you bought called and how much did it cost?? I think I might like to play the how much does it cot to run game too.


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## chimera (9/11/07)

Got one of them too, 'borrowed' from work.. I'd be happy to lend it out to fellow HBers who are keen to find out how much juice the brew fridge is pulling.


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## agraham (9/11/07)

Wow that is very interesting. Looks like a converted freezer with an adjustable thermostat is the way to go then.


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## Cortez The Killer (9/11/07)

Here's the link

http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?I...=&SUBCATID=

Cheers


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## Thirsty Boy (9/11/07)

Thanks, I can see one of those in my future.


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## domonsura (9/11/07)

Hey Cortez, spill the beans mate, what was the device that you got called? And how much? I want one. Want is need as far as I'm concerned when it comes to brewing.



edit: too damn slow and didn't read properly.....thanks cortez


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## domonsura (9/11/07)

Just ordered one, thanks for the headsup cortez, I've been looking for one of these for AGES. Now I'll finally be able to find out how much my big fridge is slugging me through the summer. Might even help me get purchase of a new one approved.....


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## Kingy (9/11/07)

ive often thought about that as the freezer would use less energy. I have a fridgemate sitting here waiting for me to win a fridge on ebay,im now going to watch some chestys as well. Cheers mate


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## Tony M (9/11/07)

I posted this last year

Mar 23 2006, 04:03 PM Post #1 
Having replaced my faithful 32 YO but very dead fridge wiith a 358L chest freezer, I noticed that I rarely heard the freezer (set on 3C) running, so I put an hourmeter on it and over 120 hours, the compressor ran for 18.5 hours. Now this thing draws only one amp so over a year its going to cost me about fifty bucks. The old fridge drew 1.6A and it ran most of the time. If I said it ran 3/4 of the time, it cost $350.00 per year. 
The freezer cost $400.00 so by June 2007, it will have paid for itself, so turf those cranky old fridges folks and save the planet.


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## joecast (9/11/07)

hmm, very interesting reading. thanks for the info guys.


might need to check one of those power meters out and see what the "new" keg fridge is gonna cost me.
joe


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## bonj (9/11/07)

My chest freezer runs 24/7 as a keg fridge, and has made bugger all difference to my power bill... The ducted aircon however, is a different story.


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## paul (11/11/07)

Last summer I used a fridge for my kegs after my chest freezer died.

The fridge was outside on the verandah and the compressor ran alot. When you put a warm keg in it struggled to pull down the temp of it, was taking 24 hours. On a hot day the compressor was running about half the time.

I bought another chest freezer out of the paper for $50. Like my old chest freezer the compressor hardly runs at all. If you have a look at the thickness of the walls of a chest freezer they are twice as thick as the walls of a fridge maknig them more efficient.


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## Ross (11/11/07)

I advise everyone who asks, to go the chest freezer way. I've stated many times on here, that even buying a new chest freezer will pay itself off very quickly against most old fridges that chew up the power. A most useful tool & will certainly be getting one myself.

cheers Ross


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## SpillsMostOfIt (11/11/07)

Ross said:


> I advise everyone who asks, to go the chest freezer way. I've stated many times on here, that even buying a new chest freezer will pay itself off very quickly against most old fridges that chew up the power. A most useful tool & will certainly be getting one myself.
> 
> cheers Ross



Have you run out of room already?


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## Simon W (11/11/07)

> If you have a look at the thickness of the walls of a chest freezer they are twice as thick as the walls of a fridge maknig them more efficient.



Also, when you open a chesty, the cold air doesn't spill out around your feet and get replaced by 20+ deg air like it does with a fridge.


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## Andyd (11/11/07)

domonsura said:


> Just ordered one, thanks for the headsup cortez, I've been looking for one of these for AGES. Now I'll finally be able to find out how much my big fridge is slugging me through the summer. Might even help me get purchase of a new one approved.....




Just got to say, I've been waiting for these to actually arrive since they were first advertised in the jaycar catalog in August 2006 

Got one a little while back, and it's really interesting to see how much various appliances are costing to keep annually. If satisfying your curiosity is worth $40, then these are great little gadgets.

Andy


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## bulldoglegend (13/11/07)

Pardon my ignorance my fellow drinkers but as I am new to the game.
How does one go about converting a chest freezer for more practical purposes than freezing food?


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## Whistlingjack (13/11/07)

> Pardon my ignorance my fellow drinkers but as I am new to the game.
> How does one go about converting a chest freezer for more practical purposes than freezing food?



You need to add to the equation a temperature control device (Fridgemate?) which has a thermostat that tells the freezer when to turn on and off.

Set the thermostat to the desired temperature (lagering or serving, etc)

Because chest freezers are more efficient than upright fridges, the need for active cooling is reduced.

WJ


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## Cortez The Killer (14/11/07)

Then there is all the stuff about building a collar to fit the kegs in the chest freezer.

Cheers


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## hillbillybreweries (14/11/07)

One other advantage to Chest Freezers to serve you kegs is if your property is vertically challenged they are a hell of a lot easier to transport up steps than heavy fridges.

A disadvantage is that many of them do not have a drain plug and many brewers who use them complain they are a little hard to clean out.


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## bulldoglegend (19/11/07)

Whistlingjack said:


> You need to add to the equation a temperature control device (Fridgemate?) which has a thermostat that tells the freezer when to turn on and off.
> 
> Set the thermostat to the desired temperature (lagering or serving, etc)
> 
> ...




Does this mean that I will need to swap the thermostat from a fridge with the one from the freezer?


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## bulldoglegend (19/11/07)

Cortez The Killer said:


> Then there is all the stuff about building a collar to fit the kegs in the chest freezer.
> 
> Cheers




Can you please explain what a collar is because I found a freezer at KMart that will fit my 4 post mix kegs into?


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## Cortez The Killer (20/11/07)

bulldoglegend said:


> Does this mean that I will need to swap the thermostat from a fridge with the one from the freezer?



No the freezer is plugged into the fridgemate which has a probe that sits in the freezer - the fridgemate then switches the fridge on and off as required

Search fridgemate - there are a bunch of threads on it

Cheers


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## Cortez The Killer (20/11/07)

bulldoglegend said:


> Can you please explain what a collar is because I found a freezer at KMart that will fit my 4 post mix kegs into?



Have a look here

http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...st&p=191143

It is not necessary to build a collar if your kegs fit and you are happy to drill holes in the freezer - also a collar allows you to sit kegs on the compressor hump

Cheers


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## Cortez The Killer (20/11/07)

Just to report back with 2 weeks of data on the fridge

It has cost 5.22 to run over the 2 week period since installing the monitor

That's 37c per day or $136 per annum (850kWh p/a)

I have done a little work on the fridge - ie putting the gas bottle outside - changed beer and gas lines around etc things that involved leaving it open

0.1 kWh a day would be brilliant - even 1.0kWh per day would be good - I'm gonna have to really find a chest freezer

Cheers


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## BrotherNutz (20/11/07)

Cortez The Killer said:


> Have a look here
> 
> http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...st&p=191143
> 
> ...



And when you put the drill bit through the condensor and or evaporator lines within the freezers skin, you can toss your fridge into the local landfill!


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## chovain (20/11/07)

BrotherNutz said:


> And when you put the drill bit through the condensor and or evaporator lines within the freezers skin, you can toss your fridge into the local landfill!



Yep - that's a really big one. If you're installing a font, you're generally pretty safe drilling into the lid (assuming there are no connections beyond the basic hinges). If you want to front-mount your taps, only skip the collar if you _really_ know your fridges internal workings. If you're not a fridgie or a wealthy adventurer, and want to wall-mount, be smart: build a collar.


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## etbandit (20/11/07)

Cortez The Killer said:


> Just to report back with 2 weeks of data on the fridge
> 
> It has cost 5.22 to run over the 2 week period since installing the monitor
> 
> ...




Cortez,

If its 850kWh p/a, wouldn't it be 850kWh/365days = 2.32 kWh per day?


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## Cortez The Killer (20/11/07)

etbandit said:


> Cortez, If its 850kWh p/a, wouldn't it be 850kWh/365days = 2.32 kWh per day?



Yep :huh: 

But that's my fridge - which is i a normal upright


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## bulldoglegend (8/12/07)

Cortez The Killer said:


> Have a look here
> 
> http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...st&p=191143
> 
> ...




Thanks for your help guys. I have now finished building the collar for my new freezer and the fridgemate is in the post on the way to me. I had some left over 50mm cool room panel at work from a project we did there and that was just the thing for the collar.

I will post some photos later when completely set up so you can see what your brilliant advice has helped me achieve.

Cheers everyone.


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## sathid (13/12/07)

I'd be really keen to see how you made your collar bulldoglegend. I'm making one shortly and will be going the cool room panel route. 
What did you use to seal between the freezer and the panel?


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## QldKev (14/12/07)

Has anyone measured their freezers after conversion. I measured my kegerator and it is heading for $150/pa. I haven't noticed any measured results from the freezers.

QldKev


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## sam (18/3/09)

And bump.

Anyone know the energy usages for a fridge running at standard fridge temp (say 3C), and serving temp (say 8C)? Just looking at a comparison here, trying to steal a fridge from my mum and justifing the savings to her.

Cheers,

Sam


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