What power should a fridge or freezer use?

Read the fridge or freezer details and we will get power used when switched on but as they get older the insulation can break down and as a result the motor runs longer or it can loose some gas again motor runs longer.

Power meters today are cheap so it is simple enough to plug into one and measure over 24 hours the power used, however once we have these reading how can one check on if it’s reasonable for the fridge or freezer?

With brand new one gets a sticker in my case 277 kWh / annum which works out at 0.759 kWh / 24 hours allowing it to cool down first I get 0.810 kWh / 24 hours. Clearly ambient temperature and other factors will alter power use so what are required are some figures for a 288 litre fridge with a 112 litre freezer for an A++ rating. What is the expected range over a 24 hour test?

With older units it's hard to find any info on power usage. Since my Samsung RL60GZEIH is new I have the sticker which came with it but the older units the info is not included in manual and as my measurements show even a new one did not quite hit the mark.

Any idea where one can get the info for older units?

the operating manual should have the consumption on the compliance page
this may only be the consumption off the compressor when running

would suggest the actual running costs will be around 3 to four time the amount off the standard test results in the laboratory

With the manual for new fridge / freezer there is a loose leaf with 16 Samsung models listed giving A+ or A++ rating with annul energy consumption from 268 to 370 kWh/annum.

From that I can work out if any of those models have a thermal insulation problem by simply measuring over 24 hours what power they use.

However with my older freezer I can't find any info as to what power should be used so measuring the consumption over 24 hours does not tell me if the thermal insulation is OK or not.

OK I can work out if replacing it with a new one would save money but in real terms a new one will always use less than an old one and the purchase price has to be programmed in to any calculation and also how long you intend to use the old one for.

So in real terms what one wants to know is when the unit is starting to become faulty. I and expect many others never kept the sticker or extra bit giving the kWh/annum for my old fridge freezer and without this there is no way to know if the thermal insulation has failed.

Since the rating is for a half full at 25°C and our home in this country rarely exceeds 25°C in the main the results should be better than published results.

But it's finding those published results for the older fridge freezer which is the problem.

I have continued to look at fridge/freezer use nearly every other device we can look at a plate which gives us kW or A and from that it's easy to calculate the kWh per hour.

The dish washer and washing machine would need careful measurement but in the main these as disposed of when they spot working.

The fridge / freezer is the odd one out. Over it's life the thermal insulation will degrade and will at some point reach the point where although it's still working it is costing a fortune and needs replacing.

The energy meter will record how much it has used over a set time. Over say 48 hours we would get a good result.

However the kWh/Annum figures are with an ambient temperature of 25°C half full with doors not opened where in real live even with 6 cups of coffee a day the door is opened 12 times. Would be hardly a point having a fridge / freezer for a year without opening the doors.

A good instead of bad fridge / freezer in good working order will likely save £45 a year so it would take 10 years use to equal the cost of a new one so economics mean the fridge / freezer has to be pretty bad before it needs to be changed at around 1000kWh/annum it clearly would need changing. But also as the insulation goes one can get hot areas in the fridge or freezer so the food is not being preserved as it should be.

So I plug in the meter which gives me time under test and kWh used but then not a clue if these reading are acceptable or reason to buy new. It's just like having a mega without knowing 1MΩ is pass mark or an earth loop impedance meter without knowing with a B32 MCB 1.44Ω is pass mark or RCD tester without knowing 40ms is pass mark.

So I have a really good meter, but without the info as to pass mark it's next to useless. It's just a toy.

Clearly fridge / freezer size will make a difference. Although energy class will also make a difference not sure by how much? So next is to test a really small fridge. I will take about enough soft drink to last a day really designed for use in a tent. So 24 hours what will it take?

Make Woolworths and power on 230vac 45W set to cool on 12vdc 35W set to cool not sure if any temperature control. Well run for 5 hours used 0.21 KWh which means 358 kWh/annum which is more than the large fridge freezer in kitchen.