Author Topic: Rethinking refrigeration  (Read 2348 times)

jiggywiggy

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Rethinking refrigeration
« on: September 24, 2014, 05:59:02 AM »
Hi all,
This is my first post and I wanted to share my cool plan to change the way I use refrigeration in my home. I am selling my Fisher & Paykell fridge/freezer which is a 402 litre one to replace it with a 148 litre chest freezer. I am going to convert the freezer to a run as a fridge by changing over the thermostat (buying a freezer2fridge thermostat from ebay seller). The freezer is already a 3.5 star energy rating running as a freezer but it will use even less electricity when I run it as a fridge.

I have changed my eating and cooking patterns since moving very close to a very cheap and vibrant, fun asian market. I now buy most things fresh and to avoid food waste I avoid buying too much food and storing it at the back of the fridge where it just gets lost.

I had to think about whether I truly need a freezer. I don't make meals ahead and freeze them because I don't own a microwave. Instead I make fresh beans in the pressure cooker (from dried bean bought at the markets) and combine with veggies and rice. Or else salads. The only thing we have been keeping in the freezer are ice cubes, pastry sheets and the occasional ice cream. We decided we don't need these things. To run a freezer all year just for the convenience of adding some ice cubes to drinks or to have ice cream is not worth it.

Oh and I should mention, I always forget because it is so normal for us now, that we don't eat dairy or meat anymore. We've been vegan for a long while now.

So I have worked out that the new fridge should run at 0.1 kWh per day and that should be about $8 per year to run. It will be plenty of space to store leftovers for our lunches to take to work the next day and the day or two of veggies ahead. Mind you most veggies and fruits don't even need to be stored in the fridge, they are fine on the counter top. This means we will eventually cut back on buying too many condiments and other junky things that tend to accumulate in a larger fridge.

So I am super excited about the new fridge. The good thing is that selling the current fridge is covering the cost of the new freezer and thermostat so there is no payback period involved in the changeover. We will start to save money from day one of it running!

Excited!
« Last Edit: September 24, 2014, 06:12:46 AM by jiggywiggy »

MountainBeard

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Re: Rethinking refrigeration
« Reply #1 on: September 24, 2014, 09:02:26 AM »
You might take a look at the STC-1000 temp controller.  Lots of homebrewers use these when creating a keezer; so there should be plenty of info available online.

falcondisruptor

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Re: Rethinking refrigeration
« Reply #2 on: September 24, 2014, 09:09:00 AM »
Wow, way to make an unconvential change to better suit your lifestyle and save money.  I know that we have unplugged our spare freezer, but we still have a big fridge/freezer that came with the house.  A smaller unit would probably suit our lifestyle a bit bigger, but I don't think the payback would be there for us if we just made a small incremental change. 

Silverwood

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Re: Rethinking refrigeration
« Reply #3 on: September 24, 2014, 07:58:18 PM »
Awesome!