#

Green Collar Careers - Kitchen Appliances

Recalling from Chart 202 the kitchen appliances are the second highest consumption group typically accounting for about 27% of the total electric bill.  Just over half that (~14%) is just to power the refrigerator.

Short of installing new higher efficiency appliances like convection ovens or high efficiency refrigerators or dishwashers there are two easy ways to reduce the power consumption in just about every kitchen.

Refrigerator Maintenance
Refrigerators are clearly the most reliable trouble-free appliance built, but they are not maintenance free.  Not even the best defrost cycle can eliminate the maintenance requirement. Refrigerator condenser coils tend to be naturally convective, meaning they don’t have a forced air cooling fan. With time coils tend to build up a layer of dust. It is not unusual for a typical refrigerator to drop efficiency at a rate of 5-8% per year. Take the average fridge that’s been sitting in the same place for 5 years without a coil cleaning and that could be adding 3% to the power bill.

In homes with pets refrigerator coils tend to load up much faster.  Pet dander and fur tends to have a static attraction to coils.

Refrigerators with seal leaks can sometimes double their power requirement without anyone realizing it.  A sure sign of a seal leak is a region that's moist to the touch around the doors.  The moisture is from the humidity in the air condensing on the colder metal surrounding the leak.  Use a dry paper towel to swab the refrigerator around the exterior of the seal region - if its dampened at all the seal needs service.

Cleaning refrigerator coils are pretty easy, a 10 minute job with a shopvac.  The only tough part is pulling the fridge out as the rollers may be bound up, so have a couple of carpet sliders handy if needed.  This is definitely a service you'll want to perform for the customer.

To learn more about cleaning refrigerator coils use the search tool below to look up refrigerator condenser cleaning.

To learn more about cleaning refrigerator seals use the search tool below to look up refrigerator gasket replacement.

Seasonal Cooking
Here is an area that nearly everyone overlooks. Recall from Chart 202 that the second largest consumer of power is the kitchen, and that a little over half of that is just to run the refrigerator. What aren’t included are the cooking and dishwasher loads that require additional air conditioning to cool. A couple points to consider:

Boiling a pot of water for spaghetti typically adds about 6 kWh to the air conditioning load. If the stove is equipped with range hood ducted to the outside, the air conditioning load drops to between 3-4 kWh.

Much of the heat from an oven is directly converted to heat that loads the air conditioner. Typically every 100° for every hour adds about 2 kWh load to the air conditioning.

Summertime thirst tends to fill the dishwasher with glasses faster then plates and silverware. Do they really need to be washed at the hottest water setting?

Despite the busy lives most families live a little planning can go a long way in reducing the Kitchen Appliance share of power consumption through the hottest quarter of the year when the air condition is running. Following these few simple guidelines will usually result in a minimum of a 5% annual reduction of energy consumed:

1) During warmer months do as much outdoor cooking as possible. If you have a burner on a gas grill, use that for dishes that require boiling water.
2) Avoid baking as much as possible during summer months. Substitute microwave heating for oven heating wherever possible.
3) Have a couple of dedicated glasses for each family member and reuse them through the day.
4) Rinse the dishes off before washing them, and lower the temperature of the dishwasher for summer wash cycles.