I have a sweet-looking old Fridgidaire from the 50's as my beer fridge and was wondering if there is any way to update it in order to make it more energy efficient. Anyone have any experience or knowledge on this subject?
Also, you should plug one of those kill-a-watt deals into it.
NO! The similar products that I have run into are 'defective by design' in my opinion and are cashing in on green. They lower the voltage once the appliance starts. This is bad for the compressor. The compressor already has a start winding to account for the extra power during start. Just about every major appliance uses a start winding so the premise is flawed from the start. I'm not sure if the current goes up to compensate for the voltage drop or not. That may induce the heating you get from motors with lowered voltages.
NO! The similar products that I have run into are 'defective by design' in my opinion and are cashing in on green. They lower the voltage once the appliance starts. This is bad for the compressor. The compressor already has a start winding to account for the extra power during start. Just about every major appliance uses a start winding so the premise is flawed from the start. I'm not sure if the current goes up to compensate for the voltage drop or not. That may induce the heating you get from motors with lowered voltages.
Hermit,
I've heard of the things you're talking about, but never seen one. The Kill-a-Watt deals are a passive meter. They just tell you how much power whatever you have plugged in has used in a period of time, and then they'll do predictions as far as cost, projections across a year, etc.. Surprised me to find out that my old fridge is more efficient than the new one, but then again the walls and door are about 3x thicker.
What blew me away 20 years ago the house i'm in has an Amana furnance, I would of thought they only made microwaves.
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