{"id":197,"date":"2011-10-06T16:01:42","date_gmt":"2011-10-06T21:01:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/10rate.com\/?p=197"},"modified":"2013-03-07T16:34:44","modified_gmt":"2013-03-07T21:34:44","slug":"how-to-save-money-and-avoid-high-energy-costs-with-your-refrigerator","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/10rate.com\/how-to-save-money-and-avoid-high-energy-costs-with-your-refrigerator\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Save Money and Avoid High Energy Costs with your Refrigerator"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"margin-top:20px;\"><strong>By <a href=\"http:\/\/10rate.com\/john-e-moore\/\" rel=\"author\">John E. Moore<\/a><\/strong><\/div>\n<p><img src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/ge-energy-star-fridge.jpg\" align=\"right\"><br \/>\nDespite the fact that they may be a little more efficient, refrigerators can be a substantial part of your energy bill each month. There are a few ways you can keep the costs down. Little do people usually realize that the refrigerator is an energy hog that typically eats up 10 to 25% of the average households power bill.<\/p>\n<p>Here&#8217;s a few ways to keep the costs as low as possible:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>When going on extended vacation (week or longer) take out all perishable items and pitch them. Then turn the cooler adjustment down all the way to the lowest setting. There may be some items that can be placed in the freezer rather than throwing away.<\/li>\n<li>Keep the refrigerator compartment at 37 to 40 degrees Fahrenheit and the freezer compartment at between 0 \u2013 5 degrees.<\/li>\n<li>Periodically clean (brush) the refrigerator coils on the back or bottom of the refrigerator. This can also help extend the life of the refrigerator and help it to operate more efficiently.<\/li>\n<li>If enclosing the refrigerator in a tight space, try a ventilation fan out the back. A tight enclosure can cause inefficient operation.<\/li>\n<li>Aluminum foil helps keep foods colder and better conditioned. Paper prevents cooling.<\/li>\n<li>Allow plenty of air flow around the refrigerator. Give the fridge as much breathing room as possible but at least 2 inches on all sides.<\/li>\n<li>Top freezer refrigerators use less energy for comparable storage capacity than side by side refrigerators.<\/li>\n<li>Although Energy Star rating is not perfect its about the best indicator we have for knowing that there is some efficiency standard contained for any particular unit.<\/li>\n<li>Keep the air flow inside the fridge free of encumbrances. Do not pack foods in too tight.<\/li>\n<li>Give the doors a dollar bill test. Put a dollar bill between the door insulation and the fridge in the closed position and pull it out. If it pulls out without any resistance, you may not have a good seal and may need to replace the insulation or tighten some adjustments on the door hinges.<\/li>\n<li>When purchasing a refrigerator buy the storage capacity you need and not more. The more space you have to refrigerate, the higher the energy cost.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div style=\"background-color: #eeeeee;\">\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td><a href=\"http:\/\/10rate.com\/john-e-moore\/\"><img title=\"John E. Moore\" src=\"http:\/\/10rate.com\/graphics\/authors\/john-e-moore-50.jpg\" alt=\"John E. Moore\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<td><sup><strong><span style=\"color: #440e62;\">John E. Moore has been reviewing kitchen goods and refrigerators for 8 years as the leader of cookswarehouse.com. Cooks Warehouse sells more than 400 kitchen items and accessories. John is also a self-described computer tech geek&#8230;.<\/span> <a href=\"http:\/\/10rate.com\/john-e-moore\/\">See more about John<\/a><\/strong><\/sup><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<h2 class=\"bgheading\">Related Top 10 Lists<\/h2>\n<h3><a href=\"http:\/\/10rate.com\/best-refrigerator-reviews\/\">Top 10 Refrigerators<\/a><\/h3>\n<p><img src=\"http:\/\/10rate.com\/images\/refrigerators\/lg-ldc22720s.jpg\" alt=\"Top 10 Refrigerators\" class=\"post_thumbnail thumbnail\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"bgpara\">Looking for the best refrigerators? Below you will find the top 10 refrigerators as rated by our experts. We rate the units on effective storage (The usable amount of storage compared to the actual amount), temperature control, energy efficiency, price and convenience features. Taking these into account we think you will find the best refrigerator for you, see the refrigerator comparison and ratings below with a &#8230; <a href=\"http:\/\/10rate.com\/best-refrigerator-reviews\/\">[more]<\/a><\/p>\n<h3><a href=\"http:\/\/10rate.com\/best-counter-depth-refrigerator-reviews\/\">Top 10 Counter Depth Refrigerators<\/a><\/h3>\n<p><img src=\"http:\/\/10rate.com\/images\/counterdepth\/frigidaire-fghc2342lf.jpg\" alt=\"Top 10 Counter Depth Refrigerators\" class=\"post_thumbnail thumbnail\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"bgpara\">Looking for the best counter depth refrigerators? Below you will find the top 10 counter depth refrigerators as rated by our experts. We rate the units on effective storage (The usable amount of storage compared to the actual amount), temperature control, energy efficiency, price and convenience features. Taking these into account we think you will find the best refrigerator for you, see the counter depth &#8230; <a href=\"http:\/\/10rate.com\/best-counter-depth-refrigerator-reviews\/\">[more]<\/a><\/p>\n<h3><a href=\"http:\/\/10rate.com\/best-french-door-refrigerator-reviews\/\">Top 10 French Door Refrigerators<\/a><\/h3>\n<p><img src=\"http:\/\/10rate.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/Frigidaire-FGHF2344M1.jpg\" alt=\"Top 10 French Door Refrigerators\" class=\"post_thumbnail thumbnail\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"bgpara\">Refrigerators with French doors and bottom freezers combine style with function. While this style typically comes with a higher price tag, it also provides the advantage of arraying your food selection at eye-level. As we looked at various French door, bottom freezer &#8230; <a href=\"http:\/\/10rate.com\/best-french-door-refrigerator-reviews\/\">[more]<\/a><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"bgheading\">Featured Refrigerator Articles<\/h2>\n<h3><a href=\"http:\/\/10rate.com\/refrigerator-energy-guide-power-consumption-guidelines-and-considerations\/\">Energy and Power Consumption Reduction Requirements from Energy Star\/Feds Energy Guide<\/a><\/h3>\n<p class=\"bgpara\">Refrigerators have the deserved reputation of energy hogs. They certainly do drive up your power bills and use between 10% and 25% of your entire bill. Luckily, they are more efficient of late due to the focus of manufacturers, Energy Star and the Fed&#8230; <a href=\"http:\/\/10rate.com\/refrigerator-energy-guide-power-consumption-guidelines-and-considerations\/\">[More]<\/a><\/p>\n<h3><a href=\"http:\/\/10rate.com\/external-vs-internal-water-and-ice-dispensers-in-refrigerators-which-is-better\/\">External vs. Internal Water and Ice Dispensation in Refrigerators<\/a><\/h3>\n<p class=\"bgpara\">If you have kids you know this can be an important issue. Kids like to play with water and ice dispensers and don&#8217;t think they cant figure out the safety lock ( I know I have two boys). For this reason we purposely avoided a water and ice dispenser. But there are more reasons to really look into this feature&#8230; <a href=\"http:\/\/10rate.com\/external-vs-internal-water-and-ice-dispensers-in-refrigerators-which-is-better\/\">[More]<\/a><\/p>\n<h3><a href=\"http:\/\/10rate.com\/freezer-on-top-vs-freezer-on-bottom-refrigerators\/\">Freezer on Top vs. Freezer on Bottom Refrigerators<\/a><\/h3>\n<p class=\"bgpara\">Freezer-on-top is the traditional design of the fridge you grew up with. Why was the freezer always on the top? Because it always was, that&#8217;s why. There was never a real reason that refrigerators could not be redesigned to have the freezer on the bottom but that&#8217;s&#8230; <a href=\"http:\/\/10rate.com\/freezer-on-top-vs-freezer-on-bottom-refrigerators\/\">[More]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By John E. Moore Despite the fact that they may be a little more efficient, refrigerators can be a substantial part of your energy bill each month. There are a few ways you can keep the costs down. Little do people usually realize that the refrigerator is an energy hog that typically eats up 10 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[25,27],"tags":[48,47,49,50],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v15.9.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/10rate.com\/how-to-save-money-and-avoid-high-energy-costs-with-your-refrigerator\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\">\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"4 minutes\">\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/10rate.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/10rate.com\/\",\"name\":\"10Rate\",\"description\":\"Expert Product Reviews and Ratings | Best Top 10 Rated\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":\"https:\/\/10rate.com\/?s={search_term_string}\",\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/10rate.com\/how-to-save-money-and-avoid-high-energy-costs-with-your-refrigerator\/#primaryimage\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/ge-energy-star-fridge.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/10rate.com\/how-to-save-money-and-avoid-high-energy-costs-with-your-refrigerator\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/10rate.com\/how-to-save-money-and-avoid-high-energy-costs-with-your-refrigerator\/\",\"name\":\"How to Save Money and Avoid High Energy Costs with your Refrigerator - 10Rate\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/10rate.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/10rate.com\/how-to-save-money-and-avoid-high-energy-costs-with-your-refrigerator\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-10-06T21:01:42+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-03-07T21:34:44+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/10rate.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4ddc4d74e5627c57cd7249e4a562ac79\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/10rate.com\/how-to-save-money-and-avoid-high-energy-costs-with-your-refrigerator\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/10rate.com\/how-to-save-money-and-avoid-high-energy-costs-with-your-refrigerator\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/10rate.com\/how-to-save-money-and-avoid-high-energy-costs-with-your-refrigerator\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"item\":{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/10rate.com\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/10rate.com\/\",\"name\":\"Home\"}},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"item\":{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/10rate.com\/how-to-save-money-and-avoid-high-energy-costs-with-your-refrigerator\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/10rate.com\/how-to-save-money-and-avoid-high-energy-costs-with-your-refrigerator\/\",\"name\":\"How to Save Money and Avoid High Energy Costs with your Refrigerator\"}}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/10rate.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4ddc4d74e5627c57cd7249e4a562ac79\",\"name\":\"John Moore\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/10rate.com\/#personlogo\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/913fff1aed83d1cc6e955466fa59e5d1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"John Moore\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/10rate.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/10rate.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/10rate.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/10rate.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/10rate.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=197"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/10rate.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/10rate.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=197"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/10rate.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=197"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/10rate.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=197"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}