With most appliances one important way to save energy is to use them less, but that’s not too feasible with a refrigerator.  Sure, you can save a little by keeping the condenser coils clean and by making sure the door seals correctly by keeping them clean. And if the freezer section is defrosted manually keeping the refrigerator defrosted will also save energy. But really, the main way to save money is to buy a more efficient model. And refrigerators built today are MUCH more efficient than those that were made 22 years ago. There are some models that use only 30% of the energy that was used by refrigerators of similar size 20 years ago.

Below we’ve listed the annual costs to run refrigerators made in 1986 and 2002, based on NYS average price of electricity of 15¢/kWh:

• $210:      Old 1976-86 refrigerator (1400 kWh/yr.)
•   $75:      2002 refrigerator (500 kWh/yr.)
•   $64:      2002 Energy Star refrigerator (425 kWh/yr.)

What you can do:

• If you have an old refrigerator try to replace it.
• Especially if you have a second refrigerator, one that you “recycled” out of your kitchen to the cellar when you bought one more recently, retire it!!
• Keep the coils clean (on the back of the refrigerator).
• Keep the seals on the door clean.
• If you have a manual defrosting freezer compartment keep it defrosted.

Savings:

• Replacing an old refrigerator will save you $100 or more. Getting rid of a second refrigerator will save you even more!
• The savings you’ll make if you implement the other tips might be between $3 and $10 depending on the condition of the seals and the coils—and the age of the refrigerator!