Refrigerator economys.

solarvic
solarvic Solar Expert Posts: 1,071 ✭✭✭✭
in Energy Use & Conservation #1
I have a good 18 cubic foot fridge that has a good energystar rateing I bought about 4 or 5 years ago. Only problem is I don,t have as much freezer space as I would like. Was thinking of buying a small 6 cubic ft freezer or maybe bigger but most of them use about 370 and more KWH per year. Exanple, If the fridge uses 443 Kwh and you get a 7 cu ft freezer that uses 375 kwh your total would be 820 Kwh per year usage. I started to think of a a bigger fridge with the bottom freezer with french doors and an icemaker and cold water dispensor in the door. Looking at an LG 28 cu ft fridge that has 9 cu.ft of space in the freezer would probably give me all the freezer capacity in one appliance that is energystar rated.Uses 528 kwh per year. lots less than having the 2 separate appliances that use about 820KWH per year. Model for this lg fridge
LFX289788T. They have a smaller version of this fridge that is 24 p[lus cu ft.that is rated at 479 kwh per year and has 7 cu ft freezer. I was thinking of the smaller version but can get the bigger one for less money. I was thinking it might be worth the extra 49 kwh usage for the extra freezer space.
Has a 10 year warranty on compressor. Anyone hear have any experience with ownership or use of LG refrigeration equipment? I have an LG front loader washer with matching dryer and have real good success with them so far and they are both energy efficient and quiet. :Dsolarvic:D
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  • waynefromnscanada
    waynefromnscanada Solar Expert Posts: 3,009 ✭✭✭✭
    #2
    Re: Refrigerator economys.

    Picked up a Sears, I think 9 cu ft freezer a few months ago, Energy Star rated, 264 kw/yr. VERY pleased with it. I also use a Sears upright freezer which I have converted to fridge use. Runs 5 minutes then stays off for an hour. That's 5 minutes on, followed by 60 minutes off. (unless the door gets left ajar, in which case it runs continuously:grr ) It normally consumes roughly 200 watt hours per day. That's about 73 kwh/yr. VERY pleased with that as well. Not advertising for Sears, I know they don't make anything, just purchase from others and stencil on the Sears name. I use Sears because it's convenient for me living in the sticks. :p
    Conversions aside, if you shop around, you'll find much more efficient fridges and freezers than those built even 2 or 3 years ago. Paying a few bucks more for a higher efficiency fridge or freezer is far cheaper than the extra panels etc needed to run a pig. And check the actual consumption tag in or on the appliance too, don't just assume the Energy Star rating makes it automatically low consumption, or that the lowest consuming fridge will be rated energy star, because they aren't always.
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  • solarvic
    solarvic Solar Expert Posts: 1,071 ✭✭✭✭
    #3
    Re: Refrigerator economys.
    waynefromnscanada wrote: »
    Picked up a Sears, I think 9 cu ft freezer a few months ago, Energy Star rated, 264 kw/yr. VERY pleased with it. I also use a Sears upright freezer which I have converted to fridge use. Runs 5 minutes then stays off for an hour. That's 5 minutes on, followed by 60 minutes off. (unless the door gets left ajar, in which case it runs continuously:grr ) It normally consumes roughly 200 watt hours per day. That's about 73 kwh/yr. VERY pleased with that as well. Not advertising for Sears, I know they don't make anything, just purchase from others and stencil on the Sears name. I use Sears because it's convenient for me living in the sticks. :p
    Conversions aside, if you shop around, you'll find much more efficient fridges and freezers than those built even 2 or 3 years ago. Paying a few bucks more for a higher efficiency fridge or freezer is far cheaper than the extra panels etc needed to run a pig. And check the actual consumption tag in or on the appliance too, don't just assume the Energy Star rating makes it automatically low consumption, or that the lowest consuming fridge will be rated energy star, because they aren't always.
    Wayne I am GTI net metered so don,t have to be as frugal as you might need to be. I won,t be converting a freezer to a fridge even though your energy usage on that looks impressively low. The fridge I have now is sears which is made by Whirlpool and had a similar model for whirlpool. Maybe I will look ar the sears freezer when I get to sears.
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  • waynefromnscanada
    waynefromnscanada Solar Expert Posts: 3,009 ✭✭✭✭
    #4
    Re: Refrigerator economys.

    Since you're only looking at long term reliability, perhaps Consumers Reports would be a good place to start.
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  • solarvic
    solarvic Solar Expert Posts: 1,071 ✭✭✭✭
    #5
    Re: Refrigerator economys.
    waynefromnscanada wrote: »
    Since you're only looking at long term reliability, perhaps Consumers Reports would be a good place to start.
    I am looking for a good energy star rated fridge that also has longterm reliability It looks to me when you add the power usage of 2 separate appliances ( fridge and freezer) you use more KWH per year than you would use if you got a humungus fridge with the bottom freezer that has close to 9 cu ft of freezer space. I don,t have enough space left in my utility room for a freezer and only could put it in a bedroom if it would even go down the hallway and have enough space to get thru the door to the bedroom. I live in a doublewide premanufactured home that is smaller but comfortable and easy to maintain. Can,t put in the basement as It is just a crawlspace basement and I am too old to be going to the basement anyway. Am retired and I think this the best option for me. Was mostly trying to get some feedback from a forum member if they might have an LG fridge and how they like it. I probably will be looking at Whirlpool and sears too. Not to fond of some of the cheaper brands such as frigidare and GE and such.
    Actually I don,t consider 528 KWH usage per year is high considering how big this fridge is. They say they are 25% more efficient than the requirement to be listed as energystar rated. :DSolarvic:D
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  • sub3marathonman
    sub3marathonman Solar Expert Posts: 300 ✭✭✭
    #6
    Re: Refrigerator economys.
    waynefromnscanada wrote: »
    And check the actual consumption tag in or on the appliance too, don't just assume the Energy Star rating makes it automatically low consumption, or that the lowest consuming fridge will be rated energy star, because they aren't always.

    You might want to check more than just the Energy Star tag. I don't remember exactly who, but one member bought an Energy Star refrigerator, then measured its consumption with a Kill-A-Watt and found it was using much more than it was supposed to. I do think the company replaced the refrigerator for him though.

    Also, you might want to do a bit more research on LG products. Google "LG Refrigerator Problems" and/or "LG Refrigerator fire." Also, I believe some of the Sears Kenmore and maybe Kenmore Elite refrigerators are made by LG. There have been many instances of the lights staying on after the refrigerator door is closed. The problem was well known to LG, it was because of a problem circuit board, but they did nothing about it. There may be a class action lawsuit against them for this, but I'm not sure. When I called Sears about the same problem, they just said goodbye, and sent me to the Consumer Product Safety Division. I don't have time to fill out a 50 page questionnaire, so I never reported it.
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  • niel
    niel Solar Expert Posts: 10,300 ✭✭✭✭
    #7
    Re: Refrigerator economys.

    i thought most of kenmore was whirlpool. if you know what models are being done by lg i'm sure we'd all love to know.
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  • solarvic
    solarvic Solar Expert Posts: 1,071 ✭✭✭✭
    #8
    Re: Refrigerator economys.
    niel wrote: »
    i thought most of kenmore was whirlpool. if you know what models are being done by lg i'm sure we'd all love to know.
    Niel/ I was checking out the freezers and fridges on Consumers report. Seems now that Frigidare, Whirlpool and GE makes some of rhe freezers for Sears. I found on the net that LG sued whirlpool over patent infringement and won . Now there is a suit from whirlpool disputeing that previous suit. So let the games continue. Consumer reports reccomend the LG model Fridge I was interested in. Biggest complaint was some people don,t think the icemaker is big enough and you have to make sure the doors are closed correctly.My daughter has a kenmore with the French doors and bottom freezer and you also have to be sure the doors are closed. They have warning chimes and the light for the water dispenser stays lit till doors are closed tightly. solarvic
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  • solarvic
    solarvic Solar Expert Posts: 1,071 ✭✭✭✭
    #9
    Re: Refrigerator economys.
    niel wrote: »
    i thought most of kenmore was whirlpool. if you know what models are being done by lg i'm sure we'd all love to know.
    Niel I was at Sears today viewing the french door styles with the bottom freezer. Sales person told me that LG nakes all the fridges in that catogory now. :Dsolarvic:D
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  • jcgee88
    jcgee88 Solar Expert Posts: 154 ✭✭
    #10
    Re: Refrigerator economys.
    waynefromnscanada wrote: »
    ... don't just assume the Energy Star rating makes it automatically low consumption, or that the lowest consuming fridge will be rated energy star, because they aren't always.

    I noticed that the line of LG's in question contains models that
    are Energy Star rated as well as similar models that are not.
    Further, the stated energy consumption of all these models is
    about the same. I wonder if they are basically all the same,
    other than their features set, and LG just decided to submit
    only a few for the Energy Star rating process?

    John
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  • niel
    niel Solar Expert Posts: 10,300 ✭✭✭✭
    #11
    Re: Refrigerator economys.

    i may be a bit dumb on frigs nowadays, but how are they cooling the upper section with a freezer on the bottom as the type with freezer on top would allow for the cold air to just leak down to the lower frig section from the freezer? are they using 2 separate compressors?

    i also don't think over 1.4kwh/day is all that great. it seems to me they came out with this new style frig to thwart the e star 'better than the previous model's percentage' requirement and to allow for a bigger price tag. they are appealing to the eye, but they are still only refrigerators. if i miss my guess here that gives them breathing room to design more future models that can then meet the e star % improvement requirement. i believe they can do better now, but held back on purpose to continue to meet the e star selling point and for those prices one can buy 2-3 of the standard counterparts that are e star qualified too.

    solarvic,
    i do understand your need for more freezer space as it is lacking for some odd reason in the standard freezer on top models of the past few decades. i also would be hard pressed to fit that 3ft wide frig into the standard opening space i have for the 30in wide models, but that's just me and i'm sure there are many others in my category.
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  • solarvic
    solarvic Solar Expert Posts: 1,071 ✭✭✭✭
    #12
    Re: Refrigerator economys.

    The bigger the cu ft size the more power needed. Sears and lg has a similar new model that is 31 cu ft. Sears item no.04672052000 model# 7205. The salesman told me this was made by LG. 579 kwh per year energystar rated. Consumer reports said the rate thier enrtgy use according of the food holding capacity ect. So far the highest energy star rated fridge,s I saw are frigidare. At Lowes they have them rated by energystar tiers. Tier 1, 2, and 3. I think the LG fridgerators I have been looking are bieing discontinued. Still havn,t made a decision yet if I am going to buy the bigger fridge or just forget about it. :Dsolarvic:D
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  • niel
    niel Solar Expert Posts: 10,300 ✭✭✭✭
    #13
    Re: Refrigerator economys.

    tough decision making. the frigidaires in mention by me in another thread before, bb made a comment that the frigidaires are not lasting too long. not sure where he got that info.
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  • BB.
    BB. Super Moderators, Administrators Posts: 33,613 admin
    #14
    Re: Refrigerator economys.

    Frigidaire--We had one failed in a couple years (apartment--about 1 year ago). There was another customer with a couple year old Frigidaire at the same time as us, also was finding a different brand for replacement. Home Depot guy told me they dropped Frigidaire because of problems.

    -Bill
    Near San Francisco California: 3.5kWatt Grid Tied Solar power system+small backup genset
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  • solarvic
    solarvic Solar Expert Posts: 1,071 ✭✭✭✭
    #15
    Re: Refrigerator economys.
    BB. wrote: »
    Frigidaire--We had one failed in a couple years (apartment--about 1 year ago). There was another customer with a couple year old Frigidaire at the same time as us, also was finding a different brand for replacement. Home Depot guy told me they dropped Frigidaire because of problems.

    -Bill
    I got turned off frigidare years back after I bought a washer dryer comb. unit. Only lasted about 3 years. A friend had a frigidare washer with a short lifespan also..Got a used kenmore and never needed anything except the water control valves. After I put a water filter on my well water never had any more problems. Sold it to a friend and they are still using it. Hope my LG washer and dryer last as long as the kenmore. :Dsolarvic:D
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  • solarvic
    solarvic Solar Expert Posts: 1,071 ✭✭✭✭
    #16
    Re: Refrigerator economys.
    sub3marathonman wrote: »
    You might want to check more than just the Energy Star tag. I don't remember exactly who, but one member bought an Energy Star refrigerator, then measured its consumption with a Kill-A-Watt and found it was using much more than it was supposed to. I do think the company replaced the refrigerator for him though.

    Also, you might want to do a bit more research on LG products. Google "LG Refrigerator Problems" and/or "LG Refrigerator fire." Also, I believe some of the Sears Kenmore and maybe Kenmore Elite refrigerators are made by LG. There have been many instances of the lights staying on after the refrigerator door is closed. The problem was well known to LG, it was because of a problem circuit board, but they did nothing about it. There may be a class action lawsuit against them for this, but I'm not sure. When I called Sears about the same problem, they just said goodbye, and sent me to the Consumer Product Safety Division. I don't have time to fill out a 50 page questionnaire, so I never reported it.

    I did a lot of research on the LG french door style refrigerators and decided against buying one. The main reasons I wanted to buy one of them big Lg was for the freezer capacity. The Kenmore top freezer 18 cu. ft. I now have is energystar, just didn,t have as much freezer space as I want and the icemaker quit working. So my new plan is fix the icemaker and get about 7 to 10 cu ft freezer. Even though the two appliances will use a little more electric I can save enough money to add 4 more solar panels to make up the difference on what that new fridge would have cost. My kenmore I have now is made by whirlpool and the parts are easier and less expensive to buy. I needed a new watervalve and bought a new one from Amazon seller for $40.00 Looked at lg and it was a lot more. :Dsolarvic:D
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