This may come as a shock — no pun intended — but your refrigerator accounts for nearly 14% of your home’s total energy usage, so improving its efficiency can really help you save money on your electric bill. Since they run for 24 hours and play such an important role in everyday life, increasing efficiency is one energy conservation opportunity that you can’t afford to miss!
Here at Pipes & Plugs, LLC., one of the best parts of having over 40 years of combined experience is that we’ve seen refrigerator efficiency come a long way. Energy conservation is important to us because it helps our customers save money. You can trust our Lafayette electrical services to keep your home powered as efficiently as possible!
Want to learn how to use less electricity in New Iberia while increasing refrigerator efficiency? Here are 8 simple tips!
Check the seals
Regularly inspecting the seals on your refrigerator door allows you to find a faulty seal that could be costing you money by letting cold escape. This causes the internal temperature of the refrigerator to rise.
Clean the coils
Over time, a buildup of dust and grime can form on your refrigerator’s coils. This will act as a form of insulation that makes your refrigerator use more electricity than it should. Coils can be cleaned using a vacuum with a crevice attachment.
Choose the right temperature
A temperature between 33 and 38 degrees Fahrenheit is ideal for refrigerators. Any higher only wastes electricity and will spoil your food. Too low of a temperature will also waste electricity and may freeze your food.
Pick the right location
Never put your refrigerator next to a heat-generating appliance, such as a microwave, oven, or stove.
Fill it up
Keeping your refrigerator full allows it to run more efficiently. It’s harder to keep an empty space cold, so use gallon jugs of water to take up empty space and improve efficiency.
Keep refrigerator trips to a minimum
Warm air rushes into your refrigerator every time the door opens, causing it to use more energy to stay cold.
Allow food to cool down
Putting hot food directly into the refrigerator causes it to work harder than normal just to maintain its temperature and cool the food down. Wait for food to cool before putting it away in the refrigerator.
Wrap food in aluminum foil and plastic wrap
Cooling the uneven surfaces of food requires more electricity than cooling a flat surface, so be sure to wrap food — after it’s cooled — in aluminum foil or plastic wrap.
You should also consider if it’s time to upgrade to an energy-efficient refrigerator. Energy Star certified refrigerators can save you between $35 to $300 in energy costs during its lifetime! At Pipes & Plugs, we love finding ways to help our customers save money on electricity, so don’t hesitate to give our New Iberian electricians a call!
