Tuesday, May 05, 2009

Old Refrigerators

Old Refrigerators

Energy conservation is important.

Today I learned that the CO2 in our atmosphere currently 387 parts per million (ppm) and the amount has been rising about 2 ppm per year. Prior to the start of the Industrial Revolution the level had been less than 290 ppm. This rate of increase is alarming.

This weekend Louise mentioned that our old "beer fridge" was a real energy consumer. A quick check on the Internet revealed that fridge technology has resulted in energy reducing improvements of 190% in the last few decades. In 1984 the kilowatt hours (kwh) expended per year by the average fridge was about 1500 kwh. By 1994 the amount was down to 100 kwh and currently the average is about 400 kwh. Louise and I visited the local appliance mega mart and confirmed that new fridges with the EnergyStar rating expend about 380 to 500 kwh depending on overall, size, freezer capacity (freezers use more energy), and external drinking water availability. We found a fridge without a freezer that consumed only about 300 kwh per year. We didn't purchase the fridge because I wondered whether we needed an extra fridge at all. As soon as we arrived home I disconnected the "beer fridge" and transferred the contents into our regular freezer and fridge or into the pantry.