Fridges and fridge freezers are some of the biggest power consumers in the home. Considering that they are on all year round, this is not totally surprising, but an average fridge freezer will still generate up to twice as much emissions as your TV and four times as much as your kettle (unless you are a serial tea drinker!). Many are also extremely inefficient, and consume electricity unnecessarily, continuing to consume at the same level even though full power is only needed to start up the motor and pump fluid around the system.

It is therefore very important to look after these appliances and to use them as efficiently as possible, and here are Reduce Your CO2’s useful tips for generating a minimum amount of emissions with your fridge, fridge / freezer or freezer:

  1. Make sure that your food is cool before putting it away. It’s pretty obvious science really - if you put warm food in the fridge, the fridge will have to work harder to cool it down.
  2. Make sure that all freezer compartments and freezers are regularly defrosted. A defrosted freezer needs less effort to keep things cool than one clogged with ice.
  3. Dust the element regularly. The element works on the principal of removing heat and sending it out into the air. If covered with dust, the heat will take longer to leave the element.
  4. Buy yourself a Savaplug. This specially adapted plug can detect once the fridge / freezer’s motor is up to speed and then reduces the amount of electricity used to the necessary level. Savaplugs don’t work with all fridges and fridge / freezers so do check the list of incompatible appliances on their web site.
  5. If you replace your fridge / freezer, try to buy an ‘A’ rated appliance, which can halve your current appliances emissions.

Fridge / freezers and freezers are very important to leading an efficient ecological life. We have become an extremely wasteful society, and intelligent use of your fridge / freezer or freezer means that you throw away far less food and therefore generate less waste. What is important is to use these appliances efficiently and to use as little energy as we can.