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Refrigerator power consumption Steve Ackman 09-12-2007
Posted by Steve Ackman on September 12, 2007, 4:18 pm
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 A while back there was a thread about refrigerator
energy usage. Well, my Kill-a-Watt was on the
dehumidifier at the time, so it took a while to get
around to doing ours. This is a side-by-side with
ice and water through the door, thermostat settings
to give -13F in the freezer and 36F in the fridge.
(Fluke 52 reading about midpoint in each compartment)

Model:         GE GSL25IFRF BS
KW duration:        311 hours
Energy use:        23.46 kWh
Avg. power:        75.4 watts
Running power:        122 watts or 127 va @ 120.5 VAC

Dataplate rating: 110-127 VAC 11.2 amps

The big question: WHY does the data plate inside
the refrigerator give a rating of 11.2 amps when the
thing draws just over ONE amp when running?

Posted by stu on September 12, 2007, 7:24 pm
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> A while back there was a thread about refrigerator
> energy usage. Well, my Kill-a-Watt was on the
> dehumidifier at the time, so it took a while to get
> around to doing ours. This is a side-by-side with
> ice and water through the door, thermostat settings
> to give -13F in the freezer and 36F in the fridge.
> (Fluke 52 reading about midpoint in each compartment)
>
> Model: GE GSL25IFRF BS
> KW duration: 311 hours
> Energy use: 23.46 kWh
> Avg. power: 75.4 watts
> Running power: 122 watts or 127 va @ 120.5 VAC
>
> Dataplate rating: 110-127 VAC 11.2 amps
>
> The big question: WHY does the data plate inside
> the refrigerator give a rating of 11.2 amps when the
> thing draws just over ONE amp when running?
Does your Kill-a-Watt have a max Watt function?
The 11.2 amps will be the starting surge of the compressor (with any lights
and fans and maybe any heating elements on as well) basically the highest
amperage you could see in the worse case. Like starting the compressor again
after it has only just turned off, bigger A/C units have timers to stop the
compressor turning on within a few minutes of turning off, fridges may have
this I don't know. So the dataplate just lets you know that you shouldn't
have 2 of these fridges on the same 15 amp circuit because if they both
started at the same time they may pop the breaker. Of course they might run
for years before this would happen.
Stuart




Posted by Vaughn Simon on September 12, 2007, 8:03 pm
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>>
>> The big question: WHY does the data plate inside
>> the refrigerator give a rating of 11.2 amps when the
>> thing draws just over ONE amp when running?
> Does your Kill-a-Watt have a max Watt function?
> The 11.2 amps will be the starting surge of the compressor (with any lights
> and fans and maybe any heating elements on as well) basically the highest
> amperage you could see in the worse case.

Also, don't forget the defrost heaters. Mine takes nearly 1 KW when it is
in the defrost cycle.

Vaughn



Posted by Neon John on September 12, 2007, 10:55 pm
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On Wed, 12 Sep 2007 16:18:55 -0400, Steve Ackman
wrote:

> A while back there was a thread about refrigerator
>energy usage. Well, my Kill-a-Watt was on the
>dehumidifier at the time, so it took a while to get
>around to doing ours. This is a side-by-side with
>ice and water through the door, thermostat settings
>to give -13F in the freezer and 36F in the fridge.
>(Fluke 52 reading about midpoint in each compartment)
>
>Model:         GE GSL25IFRF BS
>KW duration:        311 hours
>Energy use:        23.46 kWh
>Avg. power:        75.4 watts
>Running power:        122 watts or 127 va @ 120.5 VAC

1.81 kWh per day. Not bad for a side-by-side. What year model is this?

>
> Dataplate rating: 110-127 VAC 11.2 amps
>
> The big question: WHY does the data plate inside
>the refrigerator give a rating of 11.2 amps when the
>thing draws just over ONE amp when running?

That's probably the draw when the defrost heater is on. 1344 watts seems about
right
for a defrost heater. See if you can catch it on the defrost cycle sometime and
see.

John

--
John De Armond
See my website for my current email address
http://www.neon-john.com
http://www.johndearmond.com <-- best little blog on the net!
Tellico Plains, Occupied TN
What do you call 4 Blondes in an Abrams? Air Tank.


Posted by Steve Ackman on September 13, 2007, 10:57 am
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22:55:44 -0400, Neon John, no@never.com wrote:
> On Wed, 12 Sep 2007 16:18:55 -0400, Steve Ackman
>
>>Model:         GE GSL25IFRF BS
>>KW duration:        311 hours
>>Energy use:        23.46 kWh
>>Avg. power:        75.4 watts
>>Running power:        122 watts or 127 va @ 120.5 VAC
>
> 1.81 kWh per day. Not bad for a side-by-side. What year model is this?

There's no year given on the dataplate, but since
we got it June last year as a scratch'n'dent/floor
model from Home Depot, I assume it's late 2005 or early
2006.

>> Dataplate rating: 110-127 VAC 11.2 amps
>>
>> The big question: WHY does the data plate inside
>>the refrigerator give a rating of 11.2 amps when the
>>thing draws just over ONE amp when running?
>
> That's probably the draw when the defrost heater is on. 1344 watts seems
about right
> for a defrost heater.

I guess that probably is most likely. I wouldn't
have imagined such a huge heater, and while the KAW
was on it, I never saw any readings other than 0, 2,
or the 120-125 range while it was running.

Now that I think about it though, I guess if you
want to heat only a very localized area, lots of heat
for a short duration does it much better than less
heat for a longer time period.

> See if you can catch it on the defrost cycle sometime and see.

Next time the KAW is on the fridge, I'll try to
catch it, but I suspect it the defrost cycles are few
and of fairly short duration.


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