Are new fridges more efficient ?

[Beerisyummy]

Hi all,

I've been playing around with a few fridges lately in an attempt to have cold beer on tap.
No great feat in itself, but I'm pretty concerned about the actual cost of power for running an extra fridge in the garage.

Tomorrow I have the option of acquiring a largish fridge freezer that has the old style cooling fins on the back.I have run a power meter on it for a week to see how she goes and the result was rather disappointing. Just under 2kwh per day.

Are these older style fridges less efficient at cooling due to the compressor system itself? I thought not much had changed apart from the types of gas used.
If the compressor systems are just as good would it be possible to simply add extra insulation and an stc for temperature control? There's plenty of room for 4 kegs and 40mm of polystyrene where possible.

Any help appreciated. I'd hate to toss an old work horse if it can modded to do the job at hand.
New fridges are pretty flimsy.

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Yes they are more efficient. The newer gases have much better thermal action. They also use a lot higher pressure. Fridgie mate was telling me there is a new gas coming out that is going to use twice the pressure and is also flamable.

Fridges also work best when full

 

[DJ_L3ThAL]

Electric motors have no doubt become more efficient, therefore smaller compressors will handle bigger refriegerant loads. Probably one of the reasons the new ones seem more flimsy, less metal.

 

[Beerisyummy]

Food for thought there guys. I might end up buying a newer fridge to suit in the end.
It just seems a shame to ditch this one.
It's a westinghouse RJ412G-1 with shirtloads of room. Probably 15 years old and still going strong.
2.0amps @ 240v is probably why it chews the juice. It would be interesting to see how it went while full as a comparison to a sandwich and a few beers.

Those fridges with flammable gas are everywhere now.my little one uses cyclobutane.

 

[QldKev]

Newer fridges are more efficient. But how much will depend on age etc.

For a fridge/freezer which I assume is a 412L your power usage is not too bad. Say 1.9kw per day * 365 days = 693KWhr/yr. Your one may be more efficient loaded up with stuff.

This brand new fridge is 430L so pretty close to yours and is rated at 530KWhr/yr. I do find real world our fridges uses more power than the manufacturer claimed figures, but I am in Queensland so that will also have a factor in it.

693 - 530 = 163 kw difference, at 26c per KW/hr = $42 a year cheaper to run the new fridge than the proposed one.

Have you checked the condition of the door seal, as they start to leak they will cause the fridge to draw more power. Also check the cooling fins on the back are clean, as they get dusty it will cause more power to be used. One advantage of the cooling fins on the back and not built into the cabinet, and being a shed fridge you can add polystyrene to the outside of the cabinet to make it more efficient. Don't expect miracles, but it will help.

Also if you don't need the freezer section, an all fridge will be a lot cheaper to run as you are not keeping an area at -20c. This 430L all fridge uses just 380KWhr/yr

I did a comparison of several of my fridges and appliances here

 

[Beerisyummy]

Hmmm.

Can't believe I missed your post Kev. I've been following your power usage thread for a while now.

Unfortunately, the large fridge has been put out to pasture. A very large machine chewed it up yesterday afternoon, shortly after I decided it was too long a day already. Rest in pieces!

Until a moment ago I was going to grab a chesty from the 2nds world up the road, until I decided I might as well hack the fridge I'm currently using for my kegs. This way it might work and save me the coin upfront.

Before I do anything, I'll run the power meter on that fridge now it has an STC installed. Having the day off of work is fun!

 

[Beerisyummy]

Ok. So, I've had a good look at the fridge downstairs. It's drawing 0.9 amps, so it should be enough to do the job.

Is there any reason why there would be gas lines in the partition between the fridge and freezer compartment? I'm pretty sure with some basic mods to the fridge I can squeeze between 6 and 8 kegs in there.

The first time I ran the power meter on this fridge it returned a usage of 0.9kwh per day. Pretty good as far as a free fridge goes.



Edit:
Then again, maybe I should leave it as is until a better freebie comes along. It would be cool if I could fit another couple of kegs in there.