How much does it cost to run an older refrigerator outside? It's a 15 year old standard sized side-by-side. It stays outside all year round in Florida. I am trying to get a ballpark figure without doing any math. I want to get rid of it, but need to justify it to rest of the family. We have a full size fridge and freezer inside anyways.
By Bella Swan from Forks, WA
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I don't have a figure but I can tell you it's a lot! Outside in Florida, older frig., no contest for me. I'd get rid of it.
This is from Mississippi State University, so depending on where you are in FL there might be some adjustment factors:
"Don't keep an old inefficient refrigerator running day and night in the garage for those few occasions when you need extra space. A 15-year-old refrigerator could cost $100-$150 per year in energy costs."
AND
"Top-freezer models are more efficient. They use 7-13 percent less energy than side-by-side models. "
Step 1 Find on the appliance its power usage. This will be a number followed by a "W" which stands for watts, or by "kW" which stands for kilowatts (thousands of watts). If the units are W, divide by 1000 to get the power usage in kW. For a typical lamp with three 60W bulbs this would be 0.180 kW.
Step 2 If the appliance is one that runs for a set time, use your watch to measure how long it takes to run. If it is on as long as you keep it switched on, estimate how many hours per day on average you leave the appliance (e.g. lamp) on. For example, if you are at work for 10 hours a day, and sleep 8 hours a day, your lamp may be on for about 6 hours per day on average.
Step 3 Multiply the average time per day the appliance is on by its power usage in kW. This is the energy used by the appliance, measured in kilowatt hours or kWh. In the above example this would be 1.08 kWh.
Step 4 Find on your electricity bill your cost per kWh. This should be the sum of the distribution charge and the generation charge. Typically this may be close to $0.11/kWh.
Step 5 Multiply the power usage of the appliance by the cost of electricity, obtaining the average cost of running the appliance in dollars per day. For our lamp example this would be about $0.12/day or about $3.56/month.
Look at this chart: michaelbluejay.com/
If you have a reason to save it, such as needing it for storing frozen garden produce in summer, or storing frozen meats, if you buy bulk quantities or raise your own, then keep it, but only keep plugged in when you need it, and try to use up the stuff in it soon as you can.
From Florida here, too--ditto to everyone else's posts here, and maybe take this into consideration, also: when setting up your kitchen, the experts tell you never to have the fridge and stove close to each other, as the heat from the stove forces the compressor on the fridge to kick on more often than it needs to.
If that fridge is outside in Florida heat--the ambient temp has got to keep that thing running almost constantly.
I'd get it outta there, too!
Easy way to tell, empty fridge and leave unplugged for a month. Check your utility bill at the end of the month. If there is a little difference, plug in and enjoy. If it's a big difference, then sell it. anbsmommy
We plugged our garage refrigerator in our California garage for one month to cover the holidays. It added $30. to our electric bill.
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