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Old 07-17-13, 02:12 PM   #29
ELGo
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Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: Albuquerque
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Brilliant thread.

I came to similar conclusions why freezarators work so well - it is not the horizontal vs vertical orientation so much as just not having a freezer! In a similar vein, smaller is less energy, but again, the bulk of the savings is nixing the freezer.

My Whirlpool averages about 1 kWh a day in our home (rated 1.1 kWh a day by EPA.) It is about 2 parts fridge and 1 part freezer by volume. If I assume fridge temp is 35F (2C) and freezer temp 15F (-10C), and annual ambient about 68F (20C), then all else being equal, the fridge uses 60% of the energy required for the freezer for equal volumes. This means that my 20 c.f fridge/freezer would average 600 Wh a day if it was a 20 c.f. fridge only. If I had only the fridge space of ~ 13.3 c.f., the average daily consumption would be about 400 Wh a day.


I asked my wife if she would be OK with not having a freezer in the house and got shot down. I had to laugh when she said "What about the ice cream ?!" Even she smiled after she thought about her answer, since we make efforts to not gain weight. I'll have to get her used to the idea over time...

About those temperature swings:How about placing some water (in a container to avoid evaporation) in front of the air vent ? Seems to me that you want a solution that will provide buffer and heat capacity. Of course if the cooling device is efficient with short bursts you can just tighten your on and off limits.

Last edited by ELGo; 07-17-13 at 02:46 PM..
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