Home › Forums › General Discussion › Very high energy bill in 8 year old house – no apparent cause › Reply To: Very high energy bill in 8 year old house – no apparent cause
philgreggHi Sarah
You may be new to this but you ask great question and supply lots of detail. I am a old hat in the field but it is great to get fresh information and perspective to keep us informed. We can get stale. I for one learn something little and new every time. Sorry I haven’t contributed but by the time I get to read them you have had huge amounts of wisdom supplied.
The one thing I can add, not necessarily relevant to your earlier question. White ware is the hidden killer. Lots of people have old fridges and freezer hidden away and they are unaware of the fact they are energy guzzlers
This table will give you some history.
Table 1: Comparison of Energy Consumption of Old and New Refrigerators
Year Refrigerator
Manufactured
Annual Electrical
Consumption
Annual Cost of
Electricity*
1972 2000 kWh $270.00
1990 900 kWh $121.50
1993 690 kWh $93.15
After 2001 485 kWh $65.47
2003 ENERGY STAR
Refrigerator 436kWh $58.86
* Cost of Electricity is calculated at $0.135 per kilowatt-hour, the average cost of
electricity in New York State for residential consumers. Electrical consumption levels
for 1972 – 1993 refrigerators obtained from Lawrence Berkeley Labs Summer 1995
This is an old table so the technology has improved even further. A fridge is the luck a heat pump, where as it uses a compressor. The compressors now used are variable speed which is where the modern efficiency is coming from.
