To avoid rasing the temperature of a freezer, freeze no more than one-tenth of the appliance’s capacity of food at one time. Also, be sure to cool foods brefore storing in the freezer. To cool hot food quickly, sit the base of the container in a sink half-filled with cold water.
Cover liquids and wrap foods stored in the refrigerator. Uncovered foods release moisture and make the compressor work harder.
You know that old freezer “Uncle Harry” gave you to use in the basement so you could save money by storing on-sale food items? Well, it costs more to run that freezer for a year than you’ll ever see in returns on food savings. If you’re looking to save energy, and money, it makes more sense to have only one, well running, efficient refrigerator/freezer.
Move your refrigerator out from the wall and vacuum its condenser coils once a year unless you have a no-clean condenser model. Your refrigerator will run for shorter periods with clean coils.
Make sure your refrigerator door seals are air tight. Test them by closing the door over a dollar bill. If you can pull the bill out easilly, the latch may need to be adjusted or the seal may need to be replaced.
Position your refrigerator away from sunny windows, hot water heaters, warm air from heating ducts, radiators, stoves and other heat sources. The heat makes cooling harder for your refrigerator.
A full refrigerator uses less energy to operate than an empty one.
If your refrigerator is more than 10 years old, consider replacing it. New refrigerators today use half the energy of 10-year-old refrigerators and Energy Star labeled refrigerators are even more efficient. Some use 15% less energy than required by federal guidelines.
Refrigerators with the freezer on top are more efficient than those with freezers on the side.
Replacing the seals on your refrigerator is not hard and can make a big improvement in the aplliances efficiency (and appearance). Replacement seals are often available at many home goods store and through the maker of the unit. One tip for using these replacement seals is to warm them before installing, this removes the crimps that often occur from their packaging. A few minutes in the clothes dryer should do the trick.
