Pull plug on energy-guzzling fridge

on November 05, 2008 at 3:29 PM, updated November 05, 2008 at 5:14 PM
This French door, bottom-freezer refrigerator has a through-the-door ice and water dispenser.

Q. My 17-year-old refrigerator still works. I am remodeling my kitchen and I heard I should get a new more efficient one. What style and size of refrigerator/freezer is most efficient and functional?

A. New refrigerator/freezers are much more energy efficient than a 17-year-old model. Energy Star qualified models are 20 percent more efficient than the most recent federal energy efficiency standards.

This means a new super-efficient model may use less than half as much electricity as your old one. This also reduces the amount of heat given to the kitchen during summer.

The energy savings from a more efficient compressor and insulation should pay back the cost of a new model over its lifetime. My own refrigerator is about 16 years old. We had a recent power outage due to [Hurricane] Ike and my food warmed within eight hours and had to be trashed. My neighbor has a new model, and the insulation kept food in his refrigerator safely below 40 degrees for the same time period.

When selecting a new refrigerator, the size is the most important factor affecting its electricity usage. Select as small a model as will meet your requirements. You can base the size requirements on your existing refrigerator size and how full it typically is, not on the few holiday occasions when you are making dinner for the entire extended family.

This French door refrigerator has two lower freezer drawers for large and smaller items.

Don't buy one which will be consistently too small and then perhaps plan to buy another small backup one or keep your old one running in the basement or garage. This will use much more electricity than just buying a larger one initially. Features such as split shelves that crank up and down and pull-out shelves can increase the usable interior space with a smaller size.

A top freezer style is most energy efficient because the cool air naturally drops from the freezer to cool the refrigerator section. Top freezer models also tend to have the most interior space for a given exterior size, so they are ideal if space is limited in your kitchen.

You can figure on about 80 percent of advertised interior volume as actual usable space.

French door models with the freezer below are becoming popular. These offer the convenience of greater access to items in the refrigerator portion with the two doors opened. Some have two separate freezer drawers below, with one specifically for large items. The only drawback is one must bend down to access the freezer and they are less efficient than top freezer models.

For efficiency and interior brightness, some of the better models now use LED lighting. This produces an easy-on-the-eyes white light and it lasts almost forever. Select models with fewer through-the-door features, such as ice/water dispensers, because they take up space otherwise used for insulation.

Q. The roof on my house is getting dark discolored areas. I tried to clean it once, but the dark spots came back. What can I clean it with so it stays cleaner longer, and what type of applicator is best?

A. Just washing off the roof is not enough to stop the stains from re-forming. Using a mixture of 25 percent bleach works well to clean the areas, but bleach is hard on landscaping and building materials.

Saver Systems makes special non-bleach roof cleaners and stain blockers which are environmentally safe. Use one of their hose-end spray applicators and roller-style rinsing tool to clean the roof.

Send inquiries to James Dulley, Staten Island Advance, 6906 Royalgreen Dr., Cincinnati, Ohio. 45244 or visit

Pull the plug
The following companies offer refrigerator/freezers:

* Frigidaire

* General Electric

* Kitchenaid

* LG

* Whirlpool