Have you recently learned about the cheapest power and decided to go solar? If so, you already know you’ll be able to save a lot of money in the years to come. But if you’re looking to save a couple of extra bucks, you need to find out which appliances are draining your wallet. Start by the ones you can’t do without: how many watts does a fridge use?
More importantly, how can you maintain the optimal power consumption of your fridge? Stay tuned because you’re about to learn just that.
What Affects the Power Consumption of Your Fridge?
Before we give you an optimal number of watts an average fridge uses, let’s see what it depends on. The following factors influence how many watts your fridge will use:
- Size. The bigger your fridge is, the more power it uses. For example, side by side and French door fridges consume more electricity than smaller ones.
- Model. The purpose of your fridge can also strongly affect its wattage. That’s why your home appliance might use as much as ten times fewer watts than a commercial display fridge.
- Age. The older your fridge is, the more electricity it consumes. Newer fridge models are specifically made to be more energy-efficient than their old mates.
- Temperature. Sometimes, the default settings can be messing up with your calculations. Your fridge might be programmed to achieve lower temperatures than your home needs.
- Condition. It’s only natural that a fridge in poor condition uses more power than it should. More often than not, this happens to old fridges that aren’t maintained properly.
- Location. Believe it or not, the number of watts your fridge uses depends on where you place it. Fridges are the least energy-efficient when they are in warm or heated areas.
- The season. Just like it doesn’t enjoy artificial heat, your fridge isn’t a fan of warm weather either. In the hot summer months, it will consume much more power than in winter.
- Your needs. A lot of the wattage your fridge needs depends upon how you use it. As you’ll see, some of your bad habits might be increasing your bill.
How Much Wattage Does an Average Fridge Use?
Now that you know what your fridge’s power consumption depends on, let’s see the actual numbers. A domestic fridge uses about 350-780 watts on average. On the other hand, mini-fridges need only between 50 and 100 watts of power.
How to Maintain the Optimal Number of Watts for Your Fridge
If you still think your fridge uses too much power, there are a couple of steps you can follow. Remember to tick every item on our to-do list, as that should help you decrease your bill.
- Clean the coils regularly to keep your fridge working properly.
- Keep the fridge door closed to prevent the warm air from coming in.
- Put your fridge in a dark room with optimal conditions.
- Set your fridge to a higher temperature.
- Replace your old fridge with an energy-efficient Energy Star-approved model.
- Get a smaller fridge and keep it full so that there’s no unnecessary warm air inside whenever you open the fridge door.
Final Remarks on the Power Consumption of an Average Fridge
Do you feel like your fridge is wasting your money even though you’re using the cheapest power? If so, you should compare the power consumption of your fridge to that of an average one (350-780 watts).
In case you still believe your appliance uses more power than it should, try following our instructions. Remember to consider your fridge’s age, size, and the conditions in which it operates. If none of that helps, replace your old model with an Energy Star-certified one.
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