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Posted by drydem on August 10, 2008, 9:48 am
Please log in for more thread options wrote:
>
>
> >Conclusion:
> >-------------
> >Energy star applicances appears only justifable if one is going to use
> >it for over 8 years
> >Even getting a new non-energy star refrigerator would povide some
> >energy saving =A0over repairing and keeping a much older refridgerator.
> >The energy efficiency of a refrigerator is significantly impacted by
> >the room temperature
>
> =A0 =A0Wow! =A0Thanks for a well-done and informative post. =A0Your ROI c=
alculations are
> a bit on the conservative side because it is probably not reasonable to a=
ssume
> that energy costs will remain the same over the life of the appliance. =
=A0On the
> other hand, including cost of capital in your analysis would offset some =
of that
> error in the other direction.
I used the fuel cost - 16 cents per 1kwh - which I remembered from
last spring.
I looked back on my electric bill today and realized you are correct -
my bill
for last month is $78.20 for 450 kwh which translates to about 17
cents per 1 kwh.
What I didn't include in my ROI calculation was the 75 dollar rebate
that I
supposedly will get back from the delivery charge (I haven't received
it as
of yet). Since I am not financing this purchase - there is no cost for
the
capital. The kill-o-watt meter is on loan from the public library.
>
> =A0 =A0 =A0It is a shame that you did not take a closer look at why your =
refrigerator
> was underperforming before you replaced it. =A0Refrigerators have two cor=
rectible
> problems that cause them to underperform:
>
> 1) The defrost system. =A0This consists of a timer and one or more heater=
s inside
> your freezer. =A0The heaters tend to burn out after about 5 years, but yo=
ur
> freezer often just displays diminished performance thereafter without eve=
r
> failing completely. =A0Unfortunately, there is no easy way to check this.=
=A0One way
> is to turn off the unit, open the door for an entire day, and observe how=
much
> condensate is still dripping out of the unit hours later. =A0If you get L=
OTS of
> water, and it keeps dripping for hours and hours, and you can still feel
> something cold in the back of your freezer, then you can safely assume th=
at the
> unit needed defrosting. =A0After you allow it to completely defrost, the =
unit
> should work better for a few weeks.
>
> =A0 You can buy the parts and find replacement instructions on the Intern=
et. =A0I
> did mine for about $35.00 in parts. =A0The only tool I needed for the job=
was a
> screwdriver. =A0(My wife was terribly disappointed at my success, she wan=
ted a new
> refrigerator)
By the way - I did look into this and yes the performance problem I
was
having with the old refrigerator suggest that a thermostat controlling
the
automatic defroster sequence was on the fritz. The suggested test that
I found to determine this would have been to manually defrost the
refrigerator and than turn it back on again - if the thermostat had
failed the old refrigerator performance problem would be temporarily
fixed until frost and ice clogged up the freezer's coils again. I
concurr
that I was so incline I could have dissembled the old refrigerator -
unlike
the new refrigerator documentation - the old refrigerator came with
maintenance manual describing how to dissemble the freezer section.
An yes the parts for the old refrigerator are available over the
internet.
But given that the refrigerator was very old - 19.5 years old - and
its door seals were going bad as well - my gut was telling me it
was time to replace it with a new one... Even though stainless steel
Kitchen appliances is very popular now - I couldn't justify the extra
cost since there was no operating or maintenance advantage to it.
I also eliminated ice makers and filtered water dispensers options
because the increased operational and capital cost as well as
made the units less reliable. I selected a 20.6 over a 18.0 cubic
size because the 20.6 cubic feet fridges were more energy
efficient per cubic foot than the 18.0 cubic feet units ( the
old fridge was rated at 18.6 cubic feet) .
Eventually - the only question I had to deal with was finding
a reliable unit that was inexpensive yet was energy
efficiency. Initially I got this list of units from the energystar
website but I found it was worthless since
the model numbers change every year - So I had either visit a
retail store or a website to look for actual models - initially
I was looking at Frigidaire and Whirlpool - but I ended
up buying a Kenmore...the same model that I currently have.
However, regardless of which maker you select,
the newer refrigerators are about 50% more energy efficient
than the older refrigerators. In my particular case the government
estimates the energy savings at 526 Kwh/year. At .17 cents per
kwh - the energy usage saving should be $89.42 - and if
energy prices continue to go up ( as history appears to strongly
suggest) the savings should likewise increase..
Assuming that the old refrigerator was repaired and
was now working up to its orginal specifications
for $50 dollars - The old refrigerator running an
estimated normalized energy usage rate of
933kwh/year it would cost $158.61 per year to run.
The new refrigerator running an estimated
nomalized energy usage rate o 407 kwh/year
would cost $69.19. Assuming nothing went wrong
with the old refrigerator for the next seven years:
( I up the repair cost to $50 since the old refrigerator's
door seals was going bad so I am including
new door insulations in the repair along with
replacing a bad defroster sensor)
The cost of an old refrigerator for eight years
$1318.88.=3D (158.61 * 8)+ 50 =3D operating cost estimate + repair
(insulation and sensor)
The cost of buy a new energy star refrigerator and operating it for
eight years
$1274.52 =3D (69.19 * 7) + 721 =3D 553.52 +7 =3D operating cost estimate +
capital cost for the new fridge
This calculation suggest that eight years is about
the break even point if energy cost remain the same.
> 2) Dust buildup on the condenser or bad fan. =A0Find your condenser (prob=
ably
> under the bottom). =A0Blow out the dust. =A0If there is a fan, make sure =
that it is
> in working order.
>
>
> --
> Vaughn
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