Both the fridge and freezer operate 24 hours daily. That being the reason, they can be considered the most significant appliances that use households’ energy. However, it depends on the kind of freezer or fridge you own. Purchasing a more efficacious fridge and freezer will save you from high electric bills.
If you are up to a new fridge or freezer, you’ll see a label of energy attached to both appliances. In most cases, you’ll see A or B ratings in old stock. So, to be on a safer side, you need to know that large freezers consume more energy as they need to cool a vast interior space.
Today, the good news is that the minimum energy performance standard (MEPS) has been set to protect consumers from purchasing ineffective fridges and freezers.
While both are home appliances and seem to run 24 hours, there is no significant difference regarding the amount of electricity used by a freezer and a fridge. However, studies prove that people who own freezers are at risks of high electric bills according to breezerfreezer.com.
Can you turn your fridge off at night?
Turning off the fridge at night is very important, especially for individuals who want to trim off high electric bills. However, as part of maintenance, a refrigerator should be at a constant adjustment of 40 degrees. And even if you are looking forward to trimming high electric bills, turning off your fridge at night still isn’t the solution since your appliance will need more power to get back to the average temperature.
Either, many of your food will go bad quickly due to bacteria—cold temperature prevents bacteria from multiplying. Or, if it is a must for you to turn off your refrigerator due to personal issues, it is advisable not to open the door for at least four hours. So the answer is NO. You’d instead leave your fridge on throughout—after sometimes, it will automatically turn off when it senses the average temperature.
How much does it cost to run a refrigerator for a month?
There are many factors to determine the cost you’ll incur in running a fridge. First, we can talk about weather changes in your region. So, be ready to incur a high charge of running a refrigerator if you are from an area experiencing hot weather. That’s because your appliance will nearly be on throughout.
Depending on the sizes, the costs of running a fridge varies from one owner to another. Moreover, with an efficient refrigerator, you may incur a low cost each month. An efficient refrigerator can cost you $80 to $100, depending on your needs and lifestyle. But what mainly determines the cost of running a fridge is the power it uses.
How much does it cost to run an empty fridge?
Here, the answer is YES. Typically, the temperatures inside the refrigerator are lower compared to the environmental temperature. This is so true, especially if your fridge is efficient. However (though less obvious), the fridge’s exterior is relatively warmer compared to the environment it is in. The temperatures inside the refrigerator are regulated and always constant. If you can observe keenly, the fridge’s external temperature varies depending on the environmental temperature.
Radiation usually occurs in the fridge due to its contents (even the cool fridges). When this radiation is absorbed, some radiates inward. So there is no heat loss, but some radiation occurs outwards. This process contributes to high running costs —the more you load your refrigerator with a mountain of warm food, the more it works to maintain a cool temperature.
This radiation does not occur in an empty fridge due to the normal constant temperature. If we consider these two scenarios, you are likely to incur a cost of $150 in running a full refrigerator and $80 in running an empty refrigerator.
Which is cheaper to run a fridge or a freezer?
Averagely, the cost of cooling and freezing food can range up to 16.8. That’s according to UK electricity bills. And that’s according to estimates from energy-saving trusts. This isn’t surprising, especially if we consider that both freezers and fridges are big home appliances that run 24 hours.
Just as I’d mentioned earlier, the cost may vary depending on several factors such as sizes and quality. Well, to determine the running costs, you need to check the energy sticker. It is usually labelled in KWh. And so, an appliance with lower KWh is likely to have lower running costs. This applies to both freezers and fridges.
Considering the average watts, the running cost of a fridge appears to be relatively low compared to the running cost of a freezer. Averagely, the power rating ranges between 40 to 160 watts keeping in mind that fridges work daily in 24 hours.
The energy consumption of fridges varies depending on the model, features and even shape. The older fridge models consume more power compared to the current models. In other words, energy-efficient appliances have an energy-saving logo—that means that they’ve passed through and qualified for a test that was set by energy saving trust.
The bottom line
Even though we are debating which appliance consumes more electricity, we need to know that people’s preference depends on the types of foods they’d like to preserve. As we’ve seen, people who own freezers are at high risk of high running costs. You know what it takes for a liquid to freeze and what it takes for warm food to run cold.
Personally, I don’t see any significant difference even though freezers have been proved to use more electricity than a fridge. The running costs of these two appliances depend on our own lifestyles. Having said that, if you pile warm food in your fridge, it will need more power to maintain the average temperature.
Without mentioning how regularly it will be turning on and off. On the other hand, you want to freeze 500 litres of liquid, do you know how much it will take in terms of the running costs?
Kim Marks