Having a second refrigerator in your basement or garage can come in handy when company rolls into town or you host a large family gathering. Sometimes, it might even just be nice to have a separate place to keep your beer and other beverages. The main downfall of owning a second fridge, however, is that they're costly to operate. Refrigerators are typically the second-largest users of electricity in the home, after air conditioners, using approximately 13.7% of the average home's electricity.
Luckily, with a little savvy thinking, you can keep the operating costs of your second refrigerator in check. Here's how:
Make sure you buy a newer, energy-efficient model.
Many people figure that since the fridge they're buying is only their spare or "second" fridge, it's okay to skimp and buy an older, secondhand model. After all, nobody's going to see that fridge too often if it's in the garage or basement. While you may save some cash upfront by purchasing an old refrigerator, you're wasting money in the long run. Newer refrigerators use far less energy than older models, so if you pay a little more for newer LG refrigerators in the beginning, you'll make up for that cost in energy savings.
Now, this is not to say you have to buy a brand new fridge. A newer used one will likely work fine for your purposes; make sure it was made after 2008. Refrigerators made between 2008 and 2010 use an average of 500 kWh of electricity, whereas those made between 2001 and 2010 use an average of 600 kWh. That's a 16.67% energy savings just for buying a slightly newer fridge.
Keep the refrigerator full all of the time.
It might sound strange at first, but refrigerators actually take less energy to keep cool if you keep them fully stocked. This is because each time the refrigerator is opened, warm air flows in, and the fridge then has to work to cool that air. The fuller the fridge is, the less air fits inside, and the less air the fridge has to cool.
Leaving a "second" fridge nearly empty when it's not needed is a common mistake that wastes energy. There's a simple solution. Save your old milk and beverage bottles, and fill them with water. Then, fill the fridge with these bottles. When you need the fridge for actual food storage, take the bottles out, set them aside, and then put them back in the fridge when it starts to empty out.
Don't keep the temperature lower than is necessary based on the items you're storing.
When you're storing perishable items, such as meats and cooked foods, by all means keep the fridge dialed down to 40 degrees F, which is the temperature the USDA recommends for safe food storage. If you turn the temperature higher than this, your food may spoil and cause illness. Use a thermometer to verify the temperature of your fridge. There's no need to pay to keep it at 36 or 38 degrees F when 40 degrees F is perfectly safe, so play with the dial and thermometer a little until you're sure the fridge is maintaining a perfect 40 degrees F.
If you're only keeping beer, soda, or other beverages in your second fridge, there's no need to pay for it to cool to 40 degrees F. These beverages are perfectly delicious when served a little warmer, and they won't spoil at higher temps. Experiment with keeping your refrigerator around 45 - 50 degrees F when it's stocked with only beverages, and see how warm you can go with the beverages still tasting appealing. Many beers, in fact, are actually best when stored around 50 degrees.
By buying a newer used fridge, keeping it full and only turning the temperature down as low as it needs to be, you can ensure your second fridge does not cost you an arm and a leg to operate.
Share