Assessing what appliances and devices take up the highest amounts of power in your home can be difficult. Unless you have eco-friendly appliances throughout your house, or you have a full house energy monitor, you probably are just guessing. You can also use an energy monitoring smart plug in the outlet and then plug your appliances into that, but it’s unrealistic to use dozens of them.
Your larger appliances likely take up a lot of electricity and energy. Your heating and cooling tend to be the biggest consumers of power in your home. Your smaller appliances like your computer and TV don’t take up as much power as you might think. For something like your refrigerator, there are ways of making it more efficient. You just have to do some home maintenance and cleaning to get the most out of your fridge.
Your refrigerator should be cycling on and off
You shouldn’t hear the compressor running all the time
Refrigerators all generally run on the same principles. They are meant to keep your food cold, ensuring that it lasts longer. It works by taking heat from the inside of the refrigerator and cycling it out. The continuous movement of the air will keep the temperatures lower and keep your food safer to eat.
The compressor and condenser coils, when running efficiently, take the heat inside and move it outside the refrigerator. The compressor pumps refrigerant into the refrigerator to lower the temperature. To maintain a constant temperature, there is an internal thermostat that it reads.
The continuous cycle replaces heat with refrigerant and helps evaporate it to keep the temperature colder. Whether you have a singular refrigerator or a combo refrigerator and freezer, it works the same way.
As your refrigerator is on, the compressor should be cycling on and off to maintain the temperature. It should not be running constantly, as this means it’s doing more work to maintain the set level of temperature.
You need to clean your condenser coils
They can be located in different places in your refrigerator
I have two combo fridge / freezer units in my home. The one inside is a Kenmore that was purchased in the past few years. The outside one is a GE that was purchased in the late 1980s.
As I like to do during spring cleaning, I try and take care of tasks that I’ve been putting off for a while. In addition to turning on the water lines outside for the sprinkler system and uncovering the air conditioner unit, I clean as many of the bigger appliances in my home as I can.
This means deep cleaning the stove, doing the spring cleaning of the electric air filters, and cleaning out the fridge and freezers. This year, I decided to add cleaning the condenser coils of the fridges to the list. The Kenmore unit is massive, heavy, and incredibly hard to move. I will need a friend to come and help me move it, as I cannot do it myself.
I’ve learned that the adage “they don’t make them like they used to” really is accurate when it comes to home appliances such as refrigerators and freezers.
The GE unit in the garage is much easier to move and I was able to do that myself. I unplugged it and shifted it away from the wall. There is a back panel at the bottom where many of the inner workings of the refrigerator are.
I took off a few screws to remove the cardboard backing to show the compressor, the condenser fan motor, and more. I don’t know the last time this was cleaned, as we inherited the unit from my wife’s grandmother. There was a lot of dust, hair, and even leaves inside the covered area.
I took a vacuum with a long nozzle attachment and vacuumed out the dust and grime. The condenser coils themselves are either in this back panel on your refrigerator, or they can be located on the bottom front grate or underneath the refrigerator. I had to tip the fridge over a bit to get to the condenser coils of the GE fridge. There was a ton of dust there too and I vacuumed it out.
Why cleaning these parts matters
Your refrigerator will run more efficiently
Keeping your condenser coils, fan, and compressor clear of debris and dust will keep them running as efficiently as possible. They won’t have to work harder to cycle through the heat and cool your fridge.
This means the compressor runs for shorter periods of time and uses up less energy. This, in turn, means your fridge is using less electricity and can lower your electricity bill. Your kitchen, and wherever else you have a fridge, will be cleaner as well.
This isn’t a chore you have to do frequently. The gradual buildup of debris and dust happens over time. But, while you’re already cleaning your home during a spring session, it’s smart to remember to do this then.
I plan on doing this each year to make sure my refrigerator is running as effectively as it can. You can see that the parts of the GE from nearly 40 years ago are still in good working order. I’ve learned that the adage “they don’t make them like they used to” really is accurate when it comes to home appliances such as refrigerators and freezers.
Your refrigerator needs a break from running and you can give it by cleaning it
While you may think about cleaning your fridge all the time to avoid funky smells from building up, you do have to clean the internal parts of the fridge from time to time as well. Dust and debris near the condenser coils and compressor can cause them to run more slowly over time. Doing this can save you money on your electricity bill because your fridge won’t be running constantly.
