[kanman]

I'm planning to super insulate a chest freezer and have been conducting some preliminary experimentation. Every fridge / freezer I've ever looked round the back of has the heat exchanger coils there (keep them dust free for max efficiency) which makes the put it in a box plan somewhat difficult.

Plan B is therefore to attach extra insulation to the casing leaving the back as the fuckwit product designers intended. One note of caution to those following this path: The extra insulation and resulting temperature gradient means that the casing becomes much colder leading to condensation issues. This rules out water absorbent insulation materials e.g. fleece or rockwool but also means you really need closed cell airtight material that is bonded to the casing.

It gets harder: all the f/f's I've seen dismembered have been insulated with rockwool / fibreglass and i'm not convinced that this is installed airtight so I think this is also in danger of getting wet/frozen, thus losing the benefits of the original insulation and potentially wetting the floor / electrics. I had this happen once with an old but otherwise unmolested freezer but it may have been down to (rust) pinholing the case.

Anyway, that's as far as I've got so far. Further experimentation depends on buying a nice new upright A+ rated, German built freezer for shop bought food so I can take the chest freezer out of service for a proper fettling and a (cheaper) return for storing garden produce.

As an aside, do you guys in iMerika have (simple for the masses) energy ratings for appliances like we do in Blighty and uRope?

[strider3700]

As an aside, do you guys in iMerika have (simple for the masses) energy ratings for appliances like we do in Blighty and uRope?

Yeah it's called energystar here in canada and I believe it's identical in the US. Basically it reports "average" yearly KWH usage of the device and compares it to other similar models. It's not a bad start to picking a new appliance but on things like washers it's not the best since it doesn't take how dry it leaves the clothes into account and drying will eat up far more power in the end.

[catbox]

We've been super efficiant for a month now. No fridge at all! The damn thing almost went up in flames before I unplugged it! So it's been the ice chest experience while waiting on a new fridge to arrive. Two more weeks! Woooohoooooo!

Wish I would of known about this efficiant fridge before plunking down our money!

We've also been hanging out the laundry most of the summer now and avoiding the dryer.
cb

[Pops]

The damn thing almost went up in flames before I unplugged it!

No that is transition!

My thought is rigid foam board as an additional insulator. Pricey but somewhat structural – though flammable.

The key seems to me is to vent the warm air from the coil to open air instead of venting it to indoor air that recalculates over the coils.

[billp]

I asked friend in Seattle what they did about the fridge when the power went off for several days.

Response was some people took the food out of the fridge and cooked it.

Others used charcoal grills indoors to try to keep warm during the power outage [all about electric in Seattle area]. And ...

I'm starting to investigate electric future in New Mexico.

[kanman]

Thanks Strider. Ours are rated in KWh p.a. too. I'm curious as to what is considered energy efficient in North America c/w Europe given that there are large differences in personal transport efficiency. I know you have big fridges/freezers but are they 7.0 V8's or turbo diesels!

For example, an 'A+' rated upright freezer I just looked at has a capacity of 293 litres and (under standard test conditions) consumes 319 KWh per year. A big 'A' rated chest freezer was 368 (about 13 cu ft) litres for 350 KWh.

These appear to have insulation about 50mm (2 inches) thick, old D/E rated models have around half this.

Anyone have figures to compare?

[frankthetank]

Yeah... here is my new refrigerator i bought from sears. It was "energy star" Kenmore.

Mine is 18.2 cu ft with 4.1 cu ft of that being freezer.

This one is suppose to use 407 KwH's per year.

[frankthetank]

We bought this...


So i decided to check how much water is actually going down our drain (out to the Mississippi River eventually).


(thats a 32gallon garbage can)


Washed this much clothing.



I'm not impressed. This is suppose to be a low water usage, high efficiency machine. Maybe it is, but i didn't think it used this much, thats close to 30 gallons of water for a small load of mostly socks and undies. I could probably wash this stuff by hand and use less then 10 gallons, but they probably wouldn't get as clean. I plan on dumping this water on some of my shrubs, no use letting it go to waste.


We are on a well, so the well pump probably kicked on a few times to do this load of wash (240V/1/2hp submersible pump). I've got to do the math to see how much energy was used(along with the energy used by the washing machine), but it looks like a lot of water for such a small load. We use cold water for washing here. Even if you are on city water, electricity is still being used to either pump the water up from the ground, or move it from some other source. Nationwide, we must use a ton of electricity/gas/water daily to wash are clothing?

[azreal60]

That's an upright washer correct?

I don't know what technical things they are doing to justify the green label, but as far as I know, upright washers always will use more water than even the non fancy looking side loaders. They simply don't have to deal with gravity taking all that water down away from the clothing like the uprights do.

I'd check and see what a comparibly priced side loader would do.

[benzoil]

I learn something new every day. Today I learned that I don't even want to think about how much water my family is using to do laundry.

Thanks for doing the legwork, Frank! Maybe you could wear everything two or three times before washing?

[Laughs_Last]

I plan on dumping this water on some of my shrubs, no use letting it go to waste.

Don't be so miserly. Dump it back in the river so that I can drink it a few days from now.

[dissimulo]

Nothing beats a Staber for efficiency.

http://www.staber.com/

Of course, everything beats a Staber on price.

(Thankfully, they are built to last a lifetime.)

[lys3rg0]

I have an "efficient" top loader too... it's true about the water, but i guess it depends on how much utilities cost in your area. In the same price range i would have gotten a front loader that used half the water but 3 times more electricity. Since water is dirt cheap here, the choice was obvious.

[I_Like_Plants]

The washers here take HOURS to wash the clothes, who knows how much water used, and they're top loaders too. Also, using dryers is mandatory, no clothes lines allowed.

[kanman]

Well not so easy to compare as I thought since your typical US appliance is about the size of a UK starter home. But after some virtual shopping at Sears and much conversion of cu ft to litres it looks like an 'Energy Star' appliance is similar in performance to an A rated appliance over here in Europe (at present, - the rating system is due to be revised I believe).

[frankthetank]

Plants-
I would move...QUICK! That is a crock of shit.

The Fisher Paykel top loaders are suppose to be very efficient, i guess just not in water use.

North Americas Most Energy Efficient Top Load Agitator Washer uses only 24% of the energy of a traditional washer. Complete the laundry in up to half the time of a frontloader, 1000rpm spin saves up to 30% time and energy in the dryer. This Super Capacity washer with unique brushless DC motor and smart electronics increases reliability with no belts, brakes, pulleys, clutches or gearboxes - parts that aren't there can't fa

From their website. You guys in New Zealand probably know more about them, since i think thats were the company is based.

When it spins up to 1000rpm it sounds like a jet engine, and yes, the clothes come out ALMOST dry...very little time on the (plants) CLOTHESLINE.
You can't imagine the horror stories we read about front loaders before buying. I was set on a Bosch, but the price just couldn't be justified over this model.
My plan is to pump the used water into a garbage can and repump that water back outside for water plants or something. We use "earth friendly" detergents here.

[Pops]

I thought since your typical US appliance is about the size of a UK starter home.

Probably true!

[mistel]

I sent an email to Sunfrost, a company that makes super efficient fridges, and asked them what they thought of the chest fridge idea. Their reply:
"Dear Peter,
It has been our experience that chest style refrigerators and freezer are no more efficient that traditional ones, just less convenient. It is the cooling of thermal mass that requires most of the energy and the opening and closing of doors makes little difference in energy usage. Our smaller refrigerators consume approximately the same .1 KWh per day as the one in the article. Let me know if you have any other questions.
-Chris"
Very nice of Chris to respond to me. I believe him, I just think the whole design of fridges is wrong. I know that every time I open my fridge, my feet get cold and the compressor kicks on. It can't be efficient. I have a kill a watt on the way and I will take some real world measurements of my 2 year old fridge.
Appliance Calculator
Peter

[coyote]

Also, using dryers is mandatory, no clothes lines allowed.

I hate that. It's so irrational as to be nearly beyond comprehension.