Can You Live Without Your Fridge?
In the latest edition of The Economist’s new magazine, Intelligent Life, there’s an article on people who have weaned themselves from their refrigerators in the name of saving the planet.
While this might not be a practical or even imaginable experience for most people, there are some things you can do to cut down your energy consumption. These tips are from the About My Planet website:
- Check your temperatures. Your fridge probably doesn’t need to be colder than 3 or 4 degrees Celsius (38 or 40 degrees Fahrenheit), and your freezer doesn’t need to be colder than -18 degrees Celsius (or 0 degrees Fahrenheit).
- Pack your freezer with ice. A full freezer uses less energy than an empty one. The same goes for your fridge. If you’ve got a beer fridge in the basement or an extra freezer in the garage, and they’re mostly empty most of the time, they’re a huge waste of energy. Unplug them.
- Clean your condenser. A dust-free condenser is an efficient one.
- Take out the light bulb. An incandescent bulb adds heat to your fridge, and it’s probably unnecessary if your kitchen light is on.
- Finally, get a new fridge. Fridges are now designed for energy efficiency - choose one with the Energy Star label, for example. And if you’ve got a fridge in its teens or 20s, it may still use harmful CFC refrigerants.
- Lisa Johnson
Filed under: environment, city living, energy on September 7th, 2007
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