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We replaced our old refrigerator, our old deep freezer, and our old electric range/oven with new Energy Star appliances (for the case of the refrigerator also CEE Tier 3 rated, and with the new range being induction instead of resistance based), and I have been tracking our electricity to see how much we are saving as a result.

After 1 month of before followed by 2 months of after the new appliances daily electric meter tracking it appears that our homes electrical consumption is down by 30% overall. OK, it actually came out to 29%....

Our coal boiler got rid of ~78% of our "all electric" demand, and now we have gotten rid of 29% of the 22% that was left behind. The new electrical appliances out there are truly capable of blowing away the older stuff. Now we need to think about a SEER 16 rated (or better) central air unit so we can cut our air conditioning electrical usage in half.

Working toward getting things down to where solar panels "might" start to make make sense.

Note that Energy Star is merely an honor system ranking that is applied by the manufacturers themselves (with apparently much abuse and with absolutely no oversight or monitoring), and CEE is an independent lab ranking which is much more meaningful than Energy Star. The higher the CEE Tier rating the better. CEE Tier 1 is roughly the equivalent of Energy Star.

"The new electrical appliances out there are truly capable of blowing away the older stuff."
Maybe on a temporary saving basis, but in the long run you are talking shorter life span, more complex repairs. That means calling the repairman, not fixing it yourself. Kind of like buying a diesel or hybird car because it gets more gas mileage, yet you have to pay $4.00/gallon for the fuel and/or a higher initial cost, what is the payback time? Last electric bill was $53, i'm happy and warm with my inefficient steam heat.

Mozz x2. If I can get to LED lighting everywhere, killing ghost appliances that suck 10 watts here there and everywhere. Propane fridge, DHW etc. Three base burners. I can run on battery power overnight and I am not talking about a battery bank taken off a submarine. Now that would save a ton. Solar? Just perhaps but not yet..

Congrats of knocking the stuffing out of your electric bill! Some time back we got a new fridge & it's quite efficient. One thing we did notice though....it runs a LOT. I guess the new way is a teeny tiny compressor that runs more, but, it uses way less electricity.

And, yes, you'll enjoy a new heat pump type AC units, but don't fall in love with the new SEER numbers. They do tell the truth, but things have changed. It used to be a seer 10 was a seer 10 & a seer 12 was a seer 12, but, now with most of the units being inverter driven and variable speed, the seer number they display isn't quite as solid a reference as it once way. A seer 16...18.... I've seen 25's! ..... they are ONLY that high a number jussssssst before they shut off. So, most of the time they run at a lower performance level. Don't get me wrong, they are good products, and save a bunch of power, but the numbers can now be manipulated and might not be so comparable as they were. I understand in low humidity areas (Arizona etc) they actual performance can be off. I think what I want to suggest is.... stick to a brand name if/when you buy one. Fugitsu & Mitsubishi I hear are both very good.

My new front load washing machine and fridge/freezer are making me very happy.

Freddy, I've noticed the same thing. The new refrigerator runs a lot compared to the old one. Not as noisy as our old one though.

Last November we replaced out washer and dryer with a new set of front loaders. On average it seems like our electric bill has gone down $20 per month due to the reduced dryer operation. The clothes are barely damp when they come out of the washer, and the dryer is large enough to dry things like blankets in one cycle. With two kids it seems like laundry is a never ending job.

At my last house we had a General Motors refrigerator in the basement, that thing dimmed the lights when the compressor kicked on! Tough to argue with the quality though, 50 years old and it still worked perfectly.

The oddest thing about our high efficiency refrigerator is that occasionally it makes a "pop" when it completes its compressor cycle. Refrigerator puff-backs?

lsayre wrote:The oddest thing about our high efficiency refrigerator is that occasionally it makes a "pop" when it completes its compressor cycle. Refrigerator puff-backs?

I would guess that's the "flapper/damper" that changes the air flow direction from freezer compartment over to the fridge compartment...it's spring loaded

lsayre wrote:The oddest thing about our high efficiency refrigerator is that occasionally it makes a "pop" when it completes its compressor cycle

My new fridge, a Samsung, also makes a pop, but I've never figured it out. It's more of a loud snap like an expansion noise and can be quite loud. Sometimes it will be immediately followed by a less loud snap. Guests mention it! I say "new fridge" but I'll bet it 3 or 4 years old by now.

mozz wrote: ↑

Fri. Oct. 31, 2014 8:50 pm

"The new electrical appliances out there are truly capable of blowing away the older stuff."
Maybe on a temporary saving basis, but in the long run you are talking shorter life span, more complex repairs. That means calling the repairman, not fixing it yourself. Kind of like buying a diesel or hybird car because it gets more gas mileage, yet you have to pay $4.00/gallon for the fuel and/or a higher initial cost, what is the payback time? Last electric bill was $53, i'm happy and warm with my inefficient steam heat.

I have been thinking about an induction range. But, maybe a gas stove would be better? At least I could do most repairs myself.

EarthWindandFire wrote: ↑

Thu. Apr. 02, 2020 11:27 am

I have been thinking about an induction range. But, maybe a gas stove would be better? At least I could do most repairs myself.

Depends on your definition of better. Repairs are far and few between on either - I would just go with whatever the cook prefers.

My wife and I prefer gas.

We switched from gas to an induction range around 2013 & were very happy with it until several circuit boards fried about 15 months ago. No issues until one day we smelled a nasty burnt smell & nothing worked. Replacement cost of the boards from GE was around $1000 just for parts. Couldn't find anything used on Ebay as this isn't an uncommon issue after 5-6 years. Bought a nice Samsung gas range for the cost of the boards & hauled the Induction range to the landfill.
A friend of mine recently had the same thing happen with their induction range for the second time. He also now has a nice new gas range.

The only board in my new range is the main control panel & replacements are $150 if it ever dies

Read this first EarthWindandFire....

Kevin

We just bought our house in January, last week the ten year old refrigerator stopped working, go figure. The local repairman offered a few options but we decided that replacement was the better choice. The new refrigerator is scheduled to be delivered tomorrow afternoon. We looked at any of the Whirlpool brands (Whirlpool, Maytag, KitchenAid and Jenn-Air) but they had limited availability, so we bought a Bosch 800 series. I'll write a review in a few months with feedback on the unit and PC Richards.

EarthWindandFire wrote: ↑

Thu. Apr. 02, 2020 11:27 am

I have been thinking about an induction range. But, maybe a gas stove would be better? At least I could do most repairs myself.

Induction is the most efficient but just like heating appliances the cost per BTU also needs to be used in your calculations. The thing that is nice about induction is it's like cooking with gas and most people that cook prefer gas. There is also other side benefits such as cleanup since the stove surface does not get very hot.