If i turned off my refrigerator for 2months would energy savings b lost by extra energy requried to repower?

Question

I'm trying to encourage my mother to turn off her 2nd refrigerator (she lives alone) she's concerned that turning it off only to repower it again in a month or two when summer guests arrive would negate all energy savings from turning it off for two months? Is that true?

Answer 1

Shut it down.  You are right.  It certainly takes energy to cool the fridge down when you first plug it in; a fair bit actually which is why we don't leave the door open.  It takes nowhere near as much to power it up once as to run it for two months.  The definitive test that you could run would be to unplug it, and let it warm up.  Then plug it in and time how many minutes it takes the condenser to run (that fridge noise) to cool it down.  Then see how many minutes a regular cycle takes (it turns the condenser on and makes noise for several minutes each hour, generally).  You might find that unplugging it for one or two days would save energy.  I think a week or two pays off.  If it is more than two weeks, I'd pull the plug, (prop open the door a bit so it doesn't smell stale when you open it again), and plug it in only if there will be guests in the next few days.  

    Pay attention, next time, to how often you hear the fridge rattle when it turns on.  We don't notice how often it happens, but they lose a fair bit of cold and have to keep making more frequently.  Think of that condenser rattle as a change purse rattling away (not to mention making life a little hotter and oil a little more expensive)

"Did you know that your refrigerator is, by far, the single biggest consumer of electricity in the average household, responsible for 10-15 percent of the electricity you use each month?  Older refrigerators, as a rule, are far less efficient than the newest ones - as much as 50 percent more efficient in many cases. What can you do? Clean the condenser coil. This one, very simple thing can improve the efficiency of your refrigerator by a third! Make sure the doors seal properly, and keep the cool in. Get rid of your second refrigerator. If you don't need it, don't waste the energy!"  [other sources point out that a fridge in the garage is worse than in the basement or house, since the garage gets much hotter than the basement, so it has to work harder to cool the inside]

If she's just cooling drinks in there, it might make more sense to get extra ice trays instead of running whole second fridge...

Glad to hear you're taking steps to save energy.  There are a lot more ways to save mom money, too!  Keep up the good work.

Answer 2

he's asking if the power it would take to turn it on again would be equivalent to just leaving it on for the two months.

and i dont have an answer for you, asker, sorry. good luck

Answer 3

Well is she going to have it on anyway in the summer?  If it is off, it uses zero electricity, if it is on, it uses electricity.  It's that simple.  The longer it is on, the more electricity it uses.  So your mother is incorrect.

Answer 4

No, not at all true.  If you turn it off for a week, you'll save electricity.

Answer 5

I would think not, but that's all I got for you.

I don't think it would take up two months worth in one instant of replugging it...try leaveing the lights on and see how that raises your bill (it does)

luck to you

Reft