Monitoring refrigeration energy useage.

Refrigerators use more energy than any other kitchen appliance -- an unsurprising fact considering that refrigerators operate 24 hours a day, 365 days a year to keep food at a safe temperature. In many low-income households, refrigerators eat up more than half the electricity consumed in one year. And if the refrigerator in a family's home is functioning poorly, the cost to the consumer can be enormous. Discovering whether an existing refrigerator is operating inefficiently enough to warrant replacing it is an extremely difficult task for a resident who sees only a monthly electric bill. Only by knowing the approximate usage of the existing unit can anyone tell whether it would pay to buy a new, energy-efficient refrigerator. The savings from replacing older refrigerators can be substantial, and collecting the data needed to determine when refrigerators should be replaced is easier and less costly than one might think. In both Chicago and New York City, replacing existing units cut refrigerator electricity usage by more than 50%. Monitoring to develop an average usage for the existing stock of refrigerators is a task that can be completed by maintenance staff in a reasonably short time -- and identifying poorly performing units thatmore » should be immediately replaced can take just two hours of monitoring.« less