efficient 20 cu' Refrigerator/Freezer [RE-wrenches]

[James Lamb, Middle Fork Engineering]

Todd
In 1992 I bought a Brand New cycle defrost 13.4 cubic foot General Electric
refrigerator for $ 285.00 one day sale 8 years ago. Its design energy usage
is 2 KWH/Day
Its still running using less that a Kilowatt a day. Since the running time
is less that half the time it should last twice as long.
I did this 10 years ago. I guess the manufactures getting there? Why does it
take so long?

The cycle defrost refrigerator requires you to defrost the freezer section
only about 3-4 times a year. The freezer has its separate door and is on
top. The refrigerator section is on the bottom with its separate door and
has an evaporator (cooling) coil in it.  When the compressor is off, the
temp in the refrigerator section (38 degrees) melts the ice on the coil.
There is a small heater on that coil that turns on automatically when the
compressor is not running. This coil is designed to keep the refrigerator
section defrosted in the worst of conditions. I disconnected it and there
was  no frost build up even on hot summer days. If the house is cold the
refrigerator would not work as much and the freezer would still be below
freezing but the ice cream would be soft. 

I insulated the inside the freezer section on the non coil surface area
(right and left side of freezer). I also insulated around the outside of the
freezer and refrigerator.  I carefully tilted the evaporator coil  on the
back of the refrigerator to increase air flow around it. I also raised the
refrigerator a few inches off the floor for more air flow around it. By
having the freezer on top, cold travels down, so this helps to use the cold
better. That's why the old wooded refrigerator requires  the ice to be
placed on top. 







-----Original Message-----
From: Todd Cory, Mt. Shasta Energy Services
[mailto:toddcory at finestplanet.com]
Sent: Monday, December 02, 2002 10:31 AM
To: RE-wrenches at topica.com
Subject: Re: efficient 20 cu' Refrigerator/Freezer [RE-wrenches]


These are still pretty dismal numbers considering our sunfrost uses only 140
kWh
a year. It is hare to understand why manufacturers are unable to make a
standard
refrigerator more efficient. Yes ours is an RF12, so not as large, but even
running 2 would still use about 1/2 the energy use.

Todd


"David Palumbo, Independent Power & Light" wrote:

> Shopping for efficient RF, 20 to 22 cubic feet.
>
> Have seen: Kenmore 20.5 cu' #622424 retails for $644 and uses 458 kwhr/yr.
>
> Kenmore 21.6 cu' #72202 retails for $899, add $ 200 for stainless exterior
> finish, uses 457 kwhr/yr.
>
> What were the numbers on the efficient Maytag that people were talking
about
> a year or so ago?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Dave

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