Looking for an energy efficient fridge

[Daniel]

Seriously, get a conserve. You will love it. Fridge and freezer, only 40 watts. my dad has two side by side. Looks like a massive commercial unit.

Daniel R Diamond

[tada]

But if you gotta have your new dc freezer what you going do with the old ac stuff? Is it possible to run the ac and dc stuff from the same bank of power or do you have to have a dc circuit and a ac circuit with 2 separate sources of power?

I was thinking if you have a conventional grid connection you could edge toward your off grid lifestyle by adding a separate circuit of pv panels connected to your freezer. Probly wishful thinking but if the the fridge well insulated maybe can bypass not just the inverter but even the battery relying solely on the insulation at night though obviously not a recommendation. Though I guess you couldn't watch your dc tv at 10 pm without the batt.

[BradW]

I know the topic has switched a bit from refrigerators to solar, but just want to throw this out about Kenmore. I bought a range, dishwasher and frig/freeze from Sears in a package deal for my kitchen remod. Had pretty major problems with all three right away and for as long as I owned them. Should have stepped up to a better brand, avoided the hassle and saved money in the long run.

I know initial cost does not always equate to quality, but I think for appliances it does.

[ericlp]

Well, I dunno, I'd stay away from conserve..sunfrost units. Reason? If it breaks who's gonna fix it? You'd gonna be waiting weeks/months for parts to come in from the big island.

Buy a Kenmore/Frigidaire/Whirlpool High Efficiency unit less then 1kW per day and get the 5 year warranty your set for a long time!

Granted the 1kW per day is about half what your going to save with a questionable sunfrost unit. But what are you giving up? 18CuFt is huge compared to 10CUFT! Not only that but for me an ice maker is a must and would be a deal breaker for me.

So, Reliability? Availability of PARTS and a qualified tech that know how to repair it? Bigger units and optional ice makers? For under HALF the cost... It's a no brainer! You can use the extra money to buy 2 more panels and 2 more batteries.

[Dave Smith]

Like Maud, we got an Energy Star model from Sears. It's been running nearly six years on our solar system (we're off-grid) and still doing fine. It's about 18 cubic feet and was listed at 390 KW hours a year (about 15 more KWH if you add the ice-maker), which was the most energy-efficient for the size at the time. Home Depot had smaller fridges but with barely any energy savings. I'm told the same size as ours is available now using about 310 KWH/yr. As our solar guy describes it, about a quarter of our 1.3 KW worth of panels goes to keep the fridge running.

[Dave Smith]

As an aside, the biggest demand from our fridge (which cost less than $600 on sale, I forgot to add) seems to be when it goes into its (daily, I think) de-frosting mode, which takes more time (and energy) then the usual chilling-down cycle.

I think it would be great if we could pick when the de-frosting mode occurs, such as during the middle of the day when our system is generating the most power. Don't know if that will ever come about except for units made specifically for off-grid, which usually cost much more.

BTW, if you're off-grid don't go to Sears looking for a gas oven, though, as all the ones they carry have an electric glo-plug instead of a pilot light. It may be safer but it also takes 5 amps to sustain, and the glo-plug stays on the entire time the oven is being used. At least the salesman there was aware of the problem and as soon as he learned we used solar he told us about it. We greatly appreciated his honesty, which came at the cost of a sale.

[ericlp]

quote:

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Originally posted by Dave Smith

Like Maud, we got an Energy Star model from Sears. It's been running nearly six years

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[8D]


That's excellent! I forgot to mention this in my previous post. Something you guys might want to look into (esp, for folks running on solar)... Swap that stock refrigerator light out with an LED light!

Normal bulbs are like 80 Watts!!! Yikes! Led bulbs are 1Watt and produce almost the same output!

Ok, so big deal right? The light lucky to be on maybe 5 minutes a day tops. But that's not the end of the story! That thing is an 80 Watt HEATER! Yes! A HEATER! Since most of that bulb is putting out heat not light energy your basically making your fridge RUN over time ... So you can gain a WHOLE lot by swapping out those old crappy bulbs. Who the heck puts warm food in a fridge? Only crazy people. So swap to an LED that produces ZERO heat and only burn 1 Watt.

I do this on all my fridges and save another 30+Kw per year. Hey power is power... Why waste it? Don't have LED bulbs just yank the bulb out if not needed.

Cheers!

[David M]

quote:

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Originally posted by BradW

I know the topic has switched a bit from refrigerators to solar, but just want to throw this out about Kenmore. I bought a range, dishwasher and frig/freeze from Sears in a package deal for my kitchen remod. Had pretty major problems with all three right away and for as long as I owned them. Should have stepped up to a better brand, avoided the hassle and saved money in the long run.

I know initial cost does not always equate to quality, but I think for appliances it does.

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Really ought to post actual brand and model and not just "sears" as sears sells many different brands and even Kenmore is made by others.

David

Ninole Resident
Please visit vacation.ninolehawaii.com

[David M]

quote:

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Originally posted by Dave Smith

?..
I think it would be great if we could pick when the de-frosting mode occurs, such as during the middle of the day when our system is generating the most power. Don't know if that will ever come about except for units made specifically for off-grid, which usually cost much more.
....

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Perhaps someone more knowledgable than me will chime in, but I wonder if you could somehow rig the defrost circuit into a timer?

David

Ninole Resident
Please visit vacation.ninolehawaii.com

[ericlp]

http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects/Con...fridge.pdf

The .1kW per day refer. Yes that's not a typo! Thats.... .1kW a day fridge. Easy to do. I've always thought about doing this. But, you really got to watch your food. I mean you could have it so 1/3 bottom freezes and the other 2/3 gradually get warmer. Also, placement of your refer is crucial. Like it's common sense to place your refer on a wall that the sun doesn't beat on. If that's not an option at least insulate that wall. Also, make sure no windows let the sun shine on the fridge.

Anyway, if I were living off grid and had a LOW budget I suppose this is better than nothing. But I particularly don't like bending over and lifting heavy items out of my fridge. I also don't like to play the oh crap you froze the vegetables because the thermostat wasn't adjusted quite right. Maybe one day I will experiment with this idea because it's incredibly easy to make and it's cool as heck to be super energy efficient. This fridge setup wins all the awards. Cheap as hell, Yes it's a DIY, and more efficient than ANYTHING on the market today ... Hands Down... And very reliable to boot!