Fridge efficiency

Is your fridge snacking on your electricity?

Monday, 23 May 2022

Did you know?

Running your fridge-freezer could cost from around £30 per year to over £100 per year. But it’s possible to cut down the impact your fridge-freezer has on your fuel bills.

On average, a freestanding fridge-freezer adds about £48 to a household’s energy bills annually.

 

What to do?

Here’s three quick things you can do to make your fridge-freezer less energy hungry….

 1. Cleaning the coils of fridges– it’s normal for the coils at the back of your fridge to get dirty over time. Wiping them clean can make a difference in boosting the energy-efficiency of your fridge.

It is important to clean the coils in your fridge, as a substance called refrigerant flows from the compressor through the fridge’s interior and exterior coils, transforming from a gas to a liquid and back again as it travels. As the refrigerant evaporates into a gaseous state, it absorbs warm air inside the freezer. A refrigerator with dirty coils can use up to 25 percent more energy as it needs to work harder and run longer to keep the inside cool

2. Checking the temperature– the ideal temperature for your fridge is between 3˚and 5˚C, while for your freezer it’s minus 18˚C. Making sure they’re at the right temperature will make sure they use no more energy than they need to. 

  3. Don’t put hot food in– where it’s safe to, it’s best to let hot food cool completely before putting it in the fridge – otherwise it takes extra energy for the fridge to cool it down. That said, it’st’s important to keep food covered and not to leave it out for long! 

Our #OneByOne campaign

Every month we’re sharing one small thing you can do to save energy, cut your bills, and look after the planet. Every month we’ll also update you on one thing we’re doing to make our homes more energy efficient.

To check out more energy saving advice or find out what B3Living is doing to cut our carbon, click here 

One by one, we'll create a greener Herts