Fridge / Freezer Power Consumption

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QldKev

Brew Dude
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There's been the occasional post over the years about fridge / freezer power consumption. I know modern fridges are more efficient than older ones, and chest freezer conversions are meant to be the cheapest to run.

In this thread Cortez finds his fridge heading towards $133 a year.

Back them I also played with an energy meter, and found my main keggerator was looking at $150 a year. This energy meter died after a month (and I couldn't find the receipt) so I haven't been able to accurately measure any more devices.

I recently picked up a Belkin energy meter, and today plugged it into my first fridge to be measured. Initially I plan on running 1 day tests on my fridges/freezers. Long term I will do longer periods as things like the fermenting fridge will be at 18c for ales for a week followed by 4c cold conditioning, obviously the 4c will consume more power. Also summer will cause more power to be used than winter.

Here gwb had these stats
Keg King kegerator was measured / predicted to cost just under $50 per year.
A 300l fridge freezer was measered at ~ $150 per year
BIG 600l Jenn Air Fridge / Freezer with ice maker and water chiller all plumbed in ( which gets a LOT of use ) was measured at ~$300 per year.

Does anyone have stats of where they have recorded their fridge and freezers power usages?

I'll try and keep this thread up to day as the number are recorded.


QldKev
 
QLDKev,

I am a bit worried you're playing for the other team - the same one as 'The Minister' and 'SWMBO' - it's conspiracy theories like this that negate all of the good work I've done on promoting how cheap it is for me to brew my own beer!

next thing you'll be starting a thread titled 'does the missus know how much that brew equipment cost' !

:p

seriously though i will be very interested to see what a ferment fridge consumes for a week or two at 18 then a week at 4, only being opened every couple of days, versus the kitchen fridge....

any links to these energy meters? are they reliable?
 
QLDKev,

I am a bit worried you're playing for the other team - the same one as 'The Minister' and 'SWMBO' - it's conspiracy theories like this that negate all of the good work I've done on promoting how cheap it is for me to brew my own beer!

next thing you'll be starting a thread titled 'does the missus know how much that brew equipment cost' !

:p

seriously though i will be very interested to see what a ferment fridge consumes for a week or two at 18 then a week at 4, only being opened every couple of days, versus the kitchen fridge....

any links to these energy meters? are they reliable?


Na mate not joining your team. :rolleyes:

back to the topic...

My wife knows what my brewery costs, and lets me go for it. She would be happy for me to buy a 50L Braumeister tomorrow if I wanted, I'm allowed to have hobbies. I'm sick of >$700 power bills and we don't even have a heater or aircon in the house, and the booster on the solar-heart has never been turned on since we moved in (a year ago, into a brand new house so much about being energy efficient houses).

The meter most often used is this jaycar one, but it is the one I had that died after a month.

The meter I just picked up is this one

Measuring power usage is pretty straight forward, so I assume they would be pretty accurate.


QldKev
 
I've had a power meter on my 1950's Kelvinator beer fridge for a few months now, I'll check it later and post the results.
 
I've had a power meter on my 1950's Kelvinator beer fridge for a few months now, I'll check it later and post the results.

I would be interested to know that one since I probably have a same era fridge

Also be good to compare it too here which claims a 22 c.f. of <1976 would be 2200 kWh, so I would expect a 1950's to be even higher.


QldKev
 
I don't know how old it is but I have a Westinghouse 320L freezer which uses .22c per day = $80.30 a year running at 4C

6139299504_e04306f9b4_n.jpg


6842621790_29c7047b51_n.jpg
 
I had a topic discussing chesty power consumption a while back. Drews Brews measured his chesty and came up with...

consumption of .8Kw/h on the day I was filtering my beers so lid open and closed alot. For the next 5 days with the lid closed I averaged .45Kw/h per day. I only brew (open and close lid) about every fortnight so rough math at 19.9c Kw/h here in Gero, 65c a week or $35 a year on my system.

... based on a 215L F&P chesty I think.

At the same time I measured my Keg King bar fridge and came up with:

I measured the power consumption on my Keg King fridge and it averages 0.16 kWh/day, which means that it'd cost around $12 to run for the year.

Note that these tests were done in Feb, a pretty hot part of the year in Perth.

Apparently there's another thread that discusses power consumption of chest freezers...

http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...showtopic=62351
 
Also be good to compare it too here which claims a 22 c.f. of <1976 would be 2200 kWh, so I would expect a 1950's to be even higher.


QldKev

I haven't actually looked at the meter for months, forgot it was on there, but I remember the initial readings were surprisingly good! I have since replaced the door seal so will be interesting to see how its going.
 
Ok, not sure I am reading it correctly as I've misplaced the manual for the meter. But it looks to me like the old Kelvinator has used 38.9kwh over the last 20days, which at my electricity rates comes to about $8.55 or about $156 over a year.

IMG_0621_v1.JPG


I'll switch the meter over to my keezer (300L Centrex) and see how it goes.
 
Ok, not sure I am reading it correctly as I've misplaced the manual for the meter. But it looks to me like the old Kelvinator has used 38.9kwh over the last 20days, which at my electricity rates comes to about $8.55 or about $156 over a year.

I'll switch the meter over to my keezer (300L Centrex) and see how it goes.

Sounds realistic to me. 38.9 over 20days is just over 700 KWhr/yr. A brand new 430L here uses 380 KWhr/yr.

My old 70's or 80's large upside down fridge (no Litres marking but I guess at least 500L) I've had the meter on since only 2pm is currently saying it's year will be 1066 kWhr, that's with the door not being opened or anything new being put inside in the last couple of days, and the temp display sitting around 6c. I'll check at 2pm tomorrow for the 24hr average and throw the device onto the next fridge.

Where no where close to what that site claims for usage, but they said 22c.f. which is about 622L and we don't know where their numbers are from?


QldKev
 
Na mate not joining your team. :rolleyes:

back to the topic...

My wife knows what my brewery costs, and lets me go for it. She would be happy for me to buy a 50L Braumeister tomorrow if I wanted, I'm allowed to have hobbies. I'm sick of >$700 power bills and we don't even have a heater or aircon in the house, and the booster on the solar-heart has never been turned on since we moved in (a year ago, into a brand new house so much about being energy efficient houses).

The meter most often used is this jaycar one, but it is the one I had that died after a month.

The meter I just picked up is this one

Measuring power usage is pretty straight forward, so I assume they would be pretty accurate.


QldKev

How much did the Belkin cost you Kev?
 
First result is in,

Large 500+ upside fridge average over past 24hrs says will cost $243 per annum (based on $0.25c per kWh), so 972kWh/yr
The fridge door was not opened during the test period, so in the real world with warmish kegs being added etc, and summer coming it would be more.
I think I know the first fridge to go.

It's now on the fermenting fridge set to 18c, will post 24hr average result tomorrow.

QldKev
 
Update to keep them rolling in.

Large 450+ upside fridge from the 80's?, average over past 24hrs says will cost $243 per annum (based on $0.25c per kWh), so 972kWh/yr
The fridge door was not opened during the test period, so in the real world with warmish kegs being added etc, and summer coming it would be more.

320L fermenting fridge with 2 fermenters sitting stable at 18c, cost $33 per annum, so 132kWh/yr
In about a week I will get some stats on this fridge at 4c

380L upright house freezer, about 10 years old. full of food, normal use for doors opening etc, cost $194 per annum, so 776kWh/yr
So this freezer is cheaper to run than the old fridge.


QldKev


edit: changed first fridge to read 450L+
 
450+ upside fridge from the 80's?, average over past 24hrs says will cost $243 per annum (based on $0.25c per kWh), so 972kWh/yr
The fridge door was not opened during the test period, so in the real world with warmish kegs being added etc, and summer coming it would be more.

320L fermenting fridge with 2 fermenters sitting stable at 18c, cost $33 per annum, so 132kWh/yr
In about a week I will get some stats on this fridge at 4c

380L upright house freezer, about 10 years old. full of food, normal use for doors opening etc, cost $194 per annum, so 776kWh/yr
So this full freezer is cheaper to run than the old fridge.

420L full fridge, about 10 years old (pidgeon pair with freezer), normal use, cost $93 per annum, so 372kWh/yr

QldKev
 
Interesting stats, there's obviously a huge variation. These numbers seem to be a lot more than the few chest freezers (albeit smaller in volume) earlier in the thread?
 
Interesting stats, there's obviously a huge variation. These numbers seem to be a lot more than the few chest freezers (albeit smaller in volume) earlier in the thread?

Reading through multiple thread and also sites and the variation reported is what got me interested enough to purchase the meter. Obviously fridges with freezers and straight freezers will use more power than straight fridges.

Looking at some of the stats

Amber Fluid mentioned Westinghouse 320L freezer which uses .22c per day = $80.30 a year running at 4C, my stat for 420L full fridge, about 10 years old, normal use, cost $93 per annum, so 372kWh/yr. I've based my $ on 0.25c per kWh, a lot of the stats were pre carbon tax etc, makes the $80 more about $90. So in this case my fridge is 100L larger, and a normal door type, that is in continual use. So I think it rates just as efficient if not slightly better.

Frothie's fridge used 38.9kWh over 20 days, so about 709kWh over a year, about $177 using my 25c power. Which is roughly on par with my 380L upright freezer. Allowing the difference in age Vs mine being freezer only I think it kind of balances out.

The keg king fridge mentioned at 0.16 kWh/day. Not sure how it was so efficient as that's more efficient than any bar fridge I can find on any manufacturers site, here a small all fridge Westinghouse is rated at 265kWh/yr. I only plugged my keg king into the meter this morning so this may change over the next 20 odd hours, but at the moment it shows $76, which is about 304kWh a year, about 0.8 kWh/day; which puts it on par with the Westinghouse.

The 215L F&P freezer that said For the next 5 days with the lid closed I averaged .45Kw/h per day. I only brew (open and close lid) about every fortnight so rough math at 19.9c Kw/h here in Gero, 65c a week or $35 a year on my system. This seems like an extremely good number. Once I finished all my testing, I will take the meter around to a mates 500L chest freezer and plug it in. Fingers crossed this chest freezer will be very efficient as hopefully soon we will be swapping it for my keg king fridge.



QldKev
 
Kev,
The meter that you are using, does it allow you to input different Kw Hr rates for different times of the day?
The reason I ask is that all my power consumption between midnight and 7 AM is off peak ( between 11 PM and 6 AM at other times of the year) and then peak rates for the rest of the day.
To work it out I would need to use both rates.
Cheers
 
Kev,
The meter that you are using, does it allow you to input different Kw Hr rates for different times of the day?
The reason I ask is that all my power consumption between midnight and 7 AM is off peak ( between 11 PM and 6 AM at other times of the year) and then peak rates for the rest of the day.
To work it out I would need to use both rates.
Cheers


Nope only one rate, it also doesn't have the time so it could only tell you the total power and not a break down. Being a fridge midnight to 7 AM being the coolest part of the day makes it chew less power during that time period. I think it would be fair to assume 3/4 usage during peak and get a rough idea of power.

Even in my case with the testing, I only see it as a guide. The large 450+L fridge was tested for 24hours without the door being opened. Every 2 to 3 weeks it would normally be opened to refill keg(s), and up to once a week to swap gas lines etc. Also summer will consume more power, and winter less. Same as if we keep throwing warm/hot stuff in the fridge to cool will all impact it.

QldKev
 
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