Cutting kitchen costs (Standard-Examiner)

Quoted message said:

http://www.ng2000.com/fw.php?tp=cooking-food

"If possible, place your refrigerator away from an outside wall ...,
Roueche said. The closer the appliance is to heat, the more energy it
uses."

???

Where is this newpaper published?

John Kane, Kingston ON Canada

In article <[email hidden]>,

John Kane said:

Where is this newpaper published?

John Kane, Kingston ON Canada

Looks like Utah, USA.
--
-Barb, Mother Superior, HOSSSPoJ
http://www.jamlady.eboard.com - story and
pics of Ronald McDonald House dinner posted 6-24-2007

John Kane said:

Quoted message said:

http://www.ng2000.com/fw.php?tp=cooking-food

"If possible, place your refrigerator away from an outside wall ...,
Roueche said. The closer the appliance is to heat, the more energy it
uses."

???

Where is this newpaper published?

That's one of the few things in it that was right.

The warmer the ambient air around the refrigerator, the
slower it cools the refrigerant in the coils, and the
longer the compressor has to run to remove the same heat
from the interior. If the exterior air is warm enough,
the compressor won't even produce a low enough interior
temperature to reach the thermostat setting.

Moving the fridge away from an exterior wall does two
things: 1. exterior walls are warmer than interior
ones, when it's hot outside the hosue, so this lowers the
temperature near the coils; and 2. moving the fridge out
a couple of inches provides more airflow around the coils,
which keeps the coils from becoming a captive heater
of their small space.

The part about keeping the fridge door open, though,
was slightly bollocks. The moment you open the door,
*all* of the cold air falls out. You can stand there for
several minutes and the food won't warm up appreciably,
so whether you close the door within seconds or minutes
doesn't make a big difference. 10 or 15 minutes might
be a different story.

--Blair

<[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

http://www.ng2000.com/fw.php?tp=cooking-food

Some makes sense, others do not. In today's houses, wall insulation is
usually very good, as is the refrigerator itself. Refrigerator coils are on
the bottom so heat transfer is not a factor.

The tip about not peeking in the oven is OK in summer, but in the winter,
you are adding heat to the house so it does not matter what the source is.

"She also said countertop and portable microwaves use less energy than
over-the-range ovens."

I'd like to know her basis for this claim. A 1000 watt MW oven is a 1000
watt MW oven

"Blair P. Houghton" <[email hidden]> wrote in message

Quoted message said:

That's one of the few things in it that was right.

The warmer the ambient air around the refrigerator, the
slower it cools the refrigerant in the coils, and the
longer the compressor has to run to remove the same heat
from the interior. If the exterior air is warm enough,
the compressor won't even produce a low enough interior
temperature to reach the thermostat setting.

Moving the fridge away from an exterior wall does two
things: 1. exterior walls are warmer than interior
ones, when it's hot outside the hosue, so this lowers the
temperature near the coils; and 2. moving the fridge out
a couple of inches provides more airflow around the coils,
which keeps the coils from becoming a captive heater
of their small space.

So the added cost, if any, is save in the winter when the wall is colder.
I'd just put the fridge where practical. Most have the coils on the bottom
these days making it even less of a factor.

"Edwin Pawlowski" <[email hidden]> wrote in
news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

So the added cost, if any, is save in the winter when the wall is
colder. I'd just put the fridge where practical. Most have the coils
on the bottom these days making it even less of a factor.

The idea is to let the heat escape, from the cooling fins that are on the
back of the fridge. Instead of trapping it behind the fridge, where it
effects motor life as well as reducing cooling phase of the heat pump. The
faster the heat disapates the more efficient the cooling.

--

The house of the burning beet-Alan

It'll be a sunny day in August, when the Moon will shine that night-
Elbonian Folklore

Blair P. Houghton said:

John Kane said:

Quoted message said:

http://www.ng2000.com/fw.php?tp=cooking-food

Quoted message said:

"If possible, place your refrigerator away from an outside wall ...,
Roueche said. The closer the appliance is to heat, the more energy it
uses."

Quoted message said:

???

Quoted message said:

Where is this newpaper published?

That's one of the few things in it that was right.

The warmer the ambient air around the refrigerator, the
slower it cools the refrigerant in the coils, and the
longer the compressor has to run to remove the same heat
from the interior. If the exterior air is warm enough,
the compressor won't even produce a low enough interior
temperature to reach the thermostat setting.

Depends clearly on where you live. At a quick guess the outside air
is colder, considerably colder (i.e. 40 C degrees differences at the
more extreme) for most of the year around here. Let's see, July 1,
external temperature at 7:00 AM is 10.6 C, predicted high of 20 and
back down to 11 tonight. Daytime winter temperatures usually below 0
C and it gets cold at night. 🙂

I think the best idea might be to seperate the motor and compressor
from the rest of the box and stick it outside 🙂

Quoted message said:

Moving the fridge away from an exterior wall does two
things: 1. exterior walls are warmer than interior
ones, when it's hot outside the hosue, so this lowers the
temperature near the coils; and 2. moving the fridge out
a couple of inches provides more airflow around the coils,
which keeps the coils from becoming a captive heater
of their small space.

The part about keeping the fridge door open, though,
was slightly bollocks. The moment you open the door,
*all* of the cold air falls out. You can stand there for
several minutes and the food won't warm up appreciably,
so whether you close the door within seconds or minutes
doesn't make a big difference. 10 or 15 minutes might
be a different story.

--Blair

Edwin Pawlowski said:

So the added cost, if any, is save in the winter when the wall is colder.

Then move it back there in winter and win both ways.

Quoted message said:

I'd just put the fridge where practical. Most have the coils on the bottom
these days making it even less of a factor.

Coils on the bottom makes little sense to me. They're already
airflow-constrained there, and would have to be more compact,
and the heat from them would just warm up the box.

"Blair P. Houghton" <[email hidden]> wrote in message

Quoted message said:

Coils on the bottom makes little sense to me. They're already
airflow-constrained there, and would have to be more compact,
and the heat from them would just warm up the box.

Reality is that they have more air flow. They allow the unit to sit closer
to the wall, allow for more insulation in the back and they have a fan to
blow air over them making them more efficient than convection cooled coils.
.. Refrigerators today use less than half the energy of the older models.
Check the rating plates on them.

Edwin Pawlowski said:

"Blair P. Houghton" <[email hidden]> wrote in message

Quoted message said:

Coils on the bottom makes little sense to me. They're already
airflow-constrained there, and would have to be more compact,
and the heat from them would just warm up the box.

Reality is that they have more air flow. They allow the unit to sit closer
to the wall, allow for more insulation in the back and they have a fan to
blow air over them making them more efficient than convection cooled coils.
. Refrigerators today use less than half the energy of the older models.
Check the rating plates on them.

I'd say that was due to improvements in motors,
refrigerants, insulation, and airflow in the compartment.

Using energy to cool the coils would be a step back.

--Blair