How old is your refrigerator?
Buildings Matter!
According to the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's data, buildings only account for 21.7% of the total energy consumption.
However, since electricity is a significant source of energy in buildings and the efficiency of electricity generation in the United States is only 35%, building energy consumption would translate to about 40% of the total energy consumption by all sectors accounting for the inefficiency. Hence, it is essential to care about building energy efficiency.
Building energy consumption is primarily appliances; hence targeting efficiency in appliances would make the most effective impact in building energy efficiency.
Refrigerators
Refrigerators consume a considerable amount of electricity in a residential household, amongst all other electrical appliances, since they are functional 24x7, all days of the year.
Refrigerators provide an excellent opportunity for energy efficiency in residential buildings since they are the easiest to replace. An inefficient refrigerator, when returned with an efficient one, could reduce the energy consumed in a household and provide savings!
You won't believe how many inefficient refrigerators exist in the country today.
At least 4.7 Million households have 20+ year-old refrigerators even today!
Source: Residential Energy Consumption Survey, 2020, EIA
With an average savings of 1250 kWh for each refrigerator, the United States with 4.5 million households would be saving a whopping 5,625,000,000 kWh every year!
Want to know how much that translates to?
We could save energy generated annually by solar panels as large as
We could save carbon emissions equivalent to the emissions by
Low-income households
One of the main concerns for changing an appliance is financing. Approximately 50% of households with 20+-year-old refrigerators belong to low-income categories.
Fortunately, low-income households now have the opportunity to change their old refrigerators through government-proposed rebates. The state gives these rebates; enter your zip code to check rebates for your area.
Medium and high-income households
Many medium and high-income houses also have old inefficient refrigerators.
Refrigerators are a significant investment. While you may or may not be eligible for a rebate, Investing in a new Energy Star refrigerator could earn all the money, you spent on the refrigerator through energy savings in just about seven years!
Government Offices/ Non-Profit:
Low-income households especially suffer from energy insecurity. Families struggle to pay bills. The government has measures for energy insecurity and funding to pay bills for impoverished households under The Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP). However, the government needs to have measures in place for complete equipment switch-outs. Total equipment replacements have a payback of five to seven years for refrigerators and are a more effective solution than energy bill assistance programs.
Calculate your individual savings with this calculator:
All data references
(CERT) C. E. (2013). Is your old refrigerator an energy hog? Retrieved from https://www.cleanenergyresourceteams.org/your-old-refrigerator-energy-hog#:~:text=A%2020%2Dyear%2Dold%20refrigerator,of%20about%207%2D9%20years
LLNL. (2020). Energy Flowcharts. Retrieved from https://flowcharts.llnl.gov/
EIA. (2015). Residential Energy Consumption Survey. Retrieved from https://www.eia.gov/consumption/residential/data/2015/
EIA. (2020). Residential Energy Consumption Survey. Retrieved from https://www.eia.gov/consumption/residential/data/2020/
EPA. (2022). Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator. Retrieved from https://www.epa.gov/energy/greenhouse-gas-equivalencies-calculator
Energy Star. (n.d.). Flip Your Fridge Calculator. Retrieved from https://www.energystar.gov/products/appliances/refrigerators/flip-your-fridge
Energy Star. (n.d.). Rebate Finder. Retrieved from https://www.energystar.gov/rebate-finder
Energy Star. (2022). Refrigerator Product Finder. Retrieved from https://www.energystar.gov/productfinder/product/certified-residential-refrigerators/results
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