I also know about phantom electricity, the power that you’re using even when things, like the TV, are “off.” So, because I’m writing about this, I just got up and went around shutting down power strips, and the UPS the TV’s plugged into, and the overhead fan, and the power cord for the indoor satellite radio.
None of those appliances is in use during the day, when I’m home by myself, so why should they be pulling juice.
But the one appliance that’s on all the time, that runs when it wants to, and is the biggest energy gobbler and least efficient of all is – the refrigerator. We have an old Crosley, which predates the Energy Star ratings. We don’t have a Kill-a-Watt meter (available for $25 at Amazon), so we don’t know exactly how much electricity we’re using, but I’m sure it’s over $100 a year, maybe a lot over, and it’s stupid.
I have long known that refrigerators, by design, don’t work well. You’re making cold, venting the heat generated directly into the kitchen, then dumping all the cold air out of the unit every time you open the door, forcing it to run again. Insane.
So I had written on my to-do sheet, “chest refrigerator,” and started poking around the internet to see if I could find a cheap meter for converting a small chest freezer to a refrigeration unit, and save a bunch of energy.
But the one appliance that’s on all the time, that runs when it wants to, and is the biggest energy gobbler and least efficient of all is – the refrigerator. We have an old Crosley, which predates the Energy Star ratings. We don’t have a Kill-a-Watt meter (available for $25 at Amazon), so we don’t know exactly how much electricity we’re using, but I’m sure it’s over $100 a year, maybe a lot over, and it’s stupid.
I have long known that refrigerators, by design, don’t work well. You’re making cold, venting the heat generated directly into the kitchen, then dumping all the cold air out of the unit every time you open the door, forcing it to run again. Insane.
So I had written on my to-do sheet, “chest refrigerator,” and started poking around the internet to see if I could find a cheap meter for converting a small chest freezer to a refrigeration unit, and save a bunch of energy.
And voila.
I hadn’t been over to the outstanding blog of Mikey Sklar and Wendy Jehanara Tremayne, Holy Scrap Hot Springs, “Digital homesteading & making all our stuff in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico,” for some time. But there, lo and behold, was Mikey’s latest gadget, a $49 plug-in controller unit for converting freezers to refrigerators, the YATC Temperature Controller. He says it’ll reduce energy consumption from $100/yr. to less than $10/yr., so the unit will pay for itself immediately. And with 200 million refrigerators in the US alone, the potential savings are mammoth, both in dollars and in costs to the environment. No household should be without one.
No, I didn’t buy his controller … yet. No money. But I will. There’s a used appliance store up in Raton that I’m going to check out for a low-cost, working chest freezer. Free would be good. And I understand it’ll work even better if it’s surrounded by extra insulation, which makes sense.
So today, I’ll talk to the landlord, and see what we come up with. Meanwhile, over at Holy Scrap, I’ve got my eye on one of Mikey’s earlier inventions, a low-cost battery desulfator for bringing batteries back to life. I think there’s a business there.
I hadn’t been over to the outstanding blog of Mikey Sklar and Wendy Jehanara Tremayne, Holy Scrap Hot Springs, “Digital homesteading & making all our stuff in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico,” for some time. But there, lo and behold, was Mikey’s latest gadget, a $49 plug-in controller unit for converting freezers to refrigerators, the YATC Temperature Controller. He says it’ll reduce energy consumption from $100/yr. to less than $10/yr., so the unit will pay for itself immediately. And with 200 million refrigerators in the US alone, the potential savings are mammoth, both in dollars and in costs to the environment. No household should be without one.
No, I didn’t buy his controller … yet. No money. But I will. There’s a used appliance store up in Raton that I’m going to check out for a low-cost, working chest freezer. Free would be good. And I understand it’ll work even better if it’s surrounded by extra insulation, which makes sense.
So today, I’ll talk to the landlord, and see what we come up with. Meanwhile, over at Holy Scrap, I’ve got my eye on one of Mikey’s earlier inventions, a low-cost battery desulfator for bringing batteries back to life. I think there’s a business there.
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