chest freezer energy usage

strider3700 · 10-03-11, 02:05 AM

Has anyone done measurements on their chest freezers? I have a medium sized one that is quite old. Lately it's been feeling hot on the outside near the compressor so I hooked up the Kilawatt to see whats going on. So far it's used .7 kwh in 15 hours. I'll let it run for a week at least to see what it averages out to but that seems pretty high in my mind. Does anyone else have readings I can compare to?

Ryland · 10-03-11, 07:48 AM

Refrigerators & Freezers Results : ENERGY STAR

You can see what a brand new energy star rated chest freezer uses, 408kwh per year is not great if it was brand new, it's costing you about $50 per year to run, but if it's older then it's most likely not using much more then it was designed to use.
To get it to use less you can defrost the inside and you can vacuum out the compressor area, also make sure nothing is pressed up to the outside as that is often where the outside coils are and you need air flow.

strider3700 · 10-03-11, 12:55 PM

it looks like I'm using about 1.4kwh/day so far. looking at that table I can save roughly $1/month by buying a new freezer. That's a long long pay back period...

Daox · 10-03-11, 01:03 PM

I did some testing a while ago with my chest freezer. Its also medium sized (I think). With a little tweaking I was able to get it down to around 1kWh per day from 1.2 kWh/day. I was going to do a few more things with it, but we found out that it really wasn't necessary for us and ended up giving it away.

Freezer Efficiency Series

strider3700 · 10-04-11, 02:41 PM

I got out a tape measure and figure that the freezer is roughly 18.6 cubic feet

The US energy star ones roughly the same size are 400- 435 kwh/year

After two days running I'm at 3.02 kwh used or 551 kwh/year which costs me $44/year

taking a real quick look at sears.ca and the canadian energy star page which has different models then the US. I find a few options for replacement

Kenmore®/MD 14.8 cu. ft. Chest Freezer - Sears | Sears Canada 14.8 cf uses 357 kwh/year and costs $550. It would save me $15.50/year giving me a 35 year payback assuming no increase in electric and I ignore taxes on the freezer.

frigidaire makes Capacity 11 - 20 | Chest | Freezers | Fridges & freezers | Appliances | Sears Canada same size but using 397 kwh/year and costing $580
this gives me a payback of 47 years.
Interestingly it's not energy star qualified according to sears but it's on the energy star list.

I see that I can go to a "full size" 24 cf freezer and use the same amount of power as my little one.

Doing all of this research says I shouldn't bother replacing this freezer until it dies or I decide it's not able to do what I need. The replacement will never last long enough to pay for its self in energy savings unless power bills go way way up.

I've looked this freezer over before and I can not find a thermostat setting anywhere on it. maybe I'll have to pull the thing out and look in by the compressor. Good time to clean it up while I'm at it.

Daox · 10-04-11, 03:17 PM

Nice quicky analysis.

Any chance of slapping some additional insulation on the freezer?

strider3700 · 10-04-11, 03:29 PM

it doesn't have external coils so insulating would only make things worse. The thing that got me started looking at it's power usage was it had a pillow sitting beside it and the case right where the pillow touched was much hotter then I expected.

Daox · 10-06-11, 02:45 PM

Yeah, you probably know this, but I believe its recommended to have a 3" or so gap around refrigeration appliances to allow for air movement. At least the manual says to leave 3-4" in back of my fridge.

10-03-11, 02:05 AM	#1
strider3700 Master EcoRenovator Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Vancouver Island BC Posts: 745 Thanks: 23 Thanked 37 Times in 30 Posts	chest freezer energy usage Has anyone done measurements on their chest freezers? I have a medium sized one that is quite old. Lately it's been feeling hot on the outside near the compressor so I hooked up the Kilawatt to see whats going on. So far it's used .7 kwh in 15 hours. I'll let it run for a week at least to see what it averages out to but that seems pretty high in my mind. Does anyone else have readings I can compare to?

10-03-11, 01:03 PM	#4
Daox Administrator Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Germantown, WI Posts: 5,525 Thanks: 1,162 Thanked 374 Times in 305 Posts	I did some testing a while ago with my chest freezer. Its also medium sized (I think). With a little tweaking I was able to get it down to around 1kWh per day from 1.2 kWh/day. I was going to do a few more things with it, but we found out that it really wasn't necessary for us and ended up giving it away. Freezer Efficiency Series __________________ Current project - To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. & To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. Last edited by Daox; 10-03-11 at 01:06 PM..

10-04-11, 03:17 PM	#6
Daox Administrator Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Germantown, WI Posts: 5,525 Thanks: 1,162 Thanked 374 Times in 305 Posts	Nice quicky analysis. Any chance of slapping some additional insulation on the freezer? __________________ Current project - To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. & To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

10-06-11, 02:45 PM	#8
Daox Administrator Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Germantown, WI Posts: 5,525 Thanks: 1,162 Thanked 374 Times in 305 Posts	Yeah, you probably know this, but I believe its recommended to have a 3" or so gap around refrigeration appliances to allow for air movement. At least the manual says to leave 3-4" in back of my fridge. __________________ Current project - To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. & To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

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10-03-11, 07:48 AM	#2
Ryland Master EcoRenovator Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Western Wisconsin. Posts: 913 Thanks: 127 Thanked 82 Times in 71 Posts	Refrigerators & Freezers Results : ENERGY STAR You can see what a brand new energy star rated chest freezer uses, 408kwh per year is not great if it was brand new, it's costing you about $50 per year to run, but if it's older then it's most likely not using much more then it was designed to use. To get it to use less you can defrost the inside and you can vacuum out the compressor area, also make sure nothing is pressed up to the outside as that is often where the outside coils are and you need air flow.

10-03-11, 12:55 PM	#3
strider3700 Master EcoRenovator Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Vancouver Island BC Posts: 745 Thanks: 23 Thanked 37 Times in 30 Posts	it looks like I'm using about 1.4kwh/day so far. looking at that table I can save roughly $1/month by buying a new freezer. That's a long long pay back period...

10-04-11, 02:41 PM	#5
strider3700 Master EcoRenovator Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Vancouver Island BC Posts: 745 Thanks: 23 Thanked 37 Times in 30 Posts	I got out a tape measure and figure that the freezer is roughly 18.6 cubic feet The US energy star ones roughly the same size are 400- 435 kwh/year After two days running I'm at 3.02 kwh used or 551 kwh/year which costs me $44/year taking a real quick look at sears.ca and the canadian energy star page which has different models then the US. I find a few options for replacement Kenmore®/MD 14.8 cu. ft. Chest Freezer - Sears \| Sears Canada 14.8 cf uses 357 kwh/year and costs $550. It would save me $15.50/year giving me a 35 year payback assuming no increase in electric and I ignore taxes on the freezer. frigidaire makes Capacity 11 - 20 \| Chest \| Freezers \| Fridges & freezers \| Appliances \| Sears Canada same size but using 397 kwh/year and costing $580 this gives me a payback of 47 years. Interestingly it's not energy star qualified according to sears but it's on the energy star list. I see that I can go to a "full size" 24 cf freezer and use the same amount of power as my little one. Doing all of this research says I shouldn't bother replacing this freezer until it dies or I decide it's not able to do what I need. The replacement will never last long enough to pay for its self in energy savings unless power bills go way way up. I've looked this freezer over before and I can not find a thermostat setting anywhere on it. maybe I'll have to pull the thing out and look in by the compressor. Good time to clean it up while I'm at it.

10-04-11, 03:29 PM	#7
strider3700 Master EcoRenovator Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Vancouver Island BC Posts: 745 Thanks: 23 Thanked 37 Times in 30 Posts	it doesn't have external coils so insulating would only make things worse. The thing that got me started looking at it's power usage was it had a pillow sitting beside it and the case right where the pillow touched was much hotter then I expected.