Modular kitchens in Kochi, and other places have owners who have started thinking in
terms of environment friendliness now. They are either opting for more
eco-friendly options, or looking for ways to make an eco-friendly option out of
what they already have.
One of the
most commonly found appliances, which also happens to be an energy hog in
itself, is the refrigerator at your home. They account for at least 9 percent
and can go upto 15% of the total electricity use at a place. So, how do you
make your refrigerator a more energy efficient one?
One, you can look at the Stars!
Not the
stars above, but the Energy Stars put on a label on the fridge. These Stars are
the government’s way of advising you for or against a fridge, based on the
energy standard. While this is an essential step in buying a refrigerator, you
should know that not all of the appliance models with same Energy Stars have
the exact same efficiency. One is always better than the other, and so on. And
so we come to point number…
Two, size plays a role too.
You know
how we Indians love to introduce the concept of ‘jugaad’ in everything we do;
well, in the case of refrigerator, there are so many people who buy a small one
and hog it up with every bit of food they can find. They are pleased at their
jugaad which allows them to not let any piece of food go bad, while also not
spend on a bigger fridge. But what they don’t realize is, they’re making the
fridge work harder than it’s intended to, forcing it to use more energy than
needed. Size of the refrigerator, therefore, matters - but it solely depends
upon how you’re going to use your fridge. So choose carefully.
Three, you can’t overlook the configuration.
There are
a number of refrigerator models available in the market today. Some have the
freezer on the top, some have a bottom freezer, and then there are some with
side-by-side freezer units. As far as the usable space is concerned in a
fridge, the top freezer models give about 80%, the bottom ones 67%, and the
third kind 63%. On the top of it, the side-by-side fridge models also consume
about 20% more electricity than its counterparts. And again, if your
refrigerator is of an even advanced configured model, chances are it will
consume more energy. For example, if it has a water and ice dispenser, and the
ice maker, and such other features, you will find your fridge using up around
10 to 15% more energy than it normally would.
Other things that you could do to save energy, and therefore some money as well:
➔ Do not place your refrigerator too
close to any source of heat; so basically, keep it placed away from the stove
or oven. Otherwise, your fridge will
have to work extra hard for no reason at all.
➔ Don’t put any food item that is too
hot, directly in the fridge. Let it cool first, and get itself to the room
temperature, and then proceed to put it in the fridge.
No comments:
Post a Comment