Recently, a friend asked me whether she should trade in her 15-year-old refrigerator for a new energy saving model.  “Is it more green and environmentally friendly to keep my current refrigerator, which still works well, or trade it for a new one?”  A great question and one that prompted me to think about my 44 year old freezer, that, yes, still works and probably eats four times the energy a new model does.  Up until recently I was very proud of this old freezer.  “They don’t make them to last like this any more,” I boasted to anyone who would listen.  That was before I began to consider the energy cost of keeping it.

On the surface it seems an easy question to answer.  Energy Star labels tell us how much energy an appliance consumes.  Labor Day appliance sales are up and running.  Why not buy a new fridge?

Let’s look a bit closer.  What exactly is an Energy Star label and what doesn’t it tell you?  Energy Star is a partnership agreement between the U.S. Department of Energy and manufacturers of certain products, as in this case refrigerators and freezers.  The partnership requires, among other things, that the manufacturer meet certain energy requirements, update the DOE yearly on changes in their products, and use Energy Star labels to identify their products.  The Energy Star labels tell you the energy consumption of an individual appliance.  As of April 28, 2008 Energy Star labeled refrigerators must use 20% less energy than established by the National Appliance Energy Conservation Act (NAECA).   Freezers, both upright and chest style must use 10% less energy.   What the Energy Star label does not tell you is the energy cost of manufacturing a new appliance (embodied energy), nor the energy cost of disposing of your old one.  The question of going green here gets more complicated.

The Environmental Protection Agency website estimates that “a 20-year old refrigerator or freezer can consume two to four times more energy annually than a new model…”  Using an older model during peak energy times of the day can greatly strain the power grid.  Is it possible my freezer is causing brownouts in Watertown?  They go on to estimate that you can save on average $50 a year and help conserve energy with a new Energy Star refrigerator, and if you have a second older one hanging around in the basement or garage, you could save an additional $100 a year in electricity by not using or replacing it.  If you want to calculate the energy usage of any of your appliances there is a formula available at /www.energysavers.gov.  

What is the embodied energy in a new refrigerator? According to Tufts University website embodied energy is the energy it takes for manufacturing a product from the acquisition of the natural materials to the delivery of the product to the dealer. Think of the equipment and energy needed to mine raw materials, to manufacture component parts and the final product, and to deliver it to the retailer.  Tufts estimates that the embodied energy in the steel alone used to make the average refrigerator is 3,850 kWh.  According to “Consumer’s Guide to Effective Environmental Choices: Practical Advice from the Union of Concerned Scientists,” by Michael Brower and Warren Leon, the average new refrigerator uses 1,100 kWh a year and a 15-year-old model uses about 2200 kWh.  Buying a new refrigerator would save you about 1100 kWh a year. To recoup the embodied energy cost would take about 3.5 years.  A new dishwasher by comparison would save only 90 kWh a year and would take over 15 years to recoup the embodied energy of a new model over a 15 year old dishwasher.  

What does all this mean?  It appears, in general, that you are being more environmentally friendly to frequently update appliances that use a lot of energy such as refrigerators and freezers and to hold on to appliances that use less energy for their life span.  The Environmental Protection Agency, which oversees the Energy Star program, recommends that you retire any appliance over fifteen years old.  Guess it means the jig is up for my freezer.

What happens to an old refrigerator when we buy a new one?   Depending upon its condition it may be refurbished and resold either domestically or overseas.  If it is beyond repair, parts of it will be recycled:  the coolant is drained and the aluminum coils and copper wire are salvaged; the refrigerator is put into a shredder and torn into pieces; the steel is recovered from the shredder with electro magnets; what is left over, plastic, rubber, glass and insulation, goes to a landfill.  Sounds neat and tidy, but alas the EPA reports that technicians who recover coolant do not need to be certified, and sometimes it is simply dumped into the ground where it releases ozone depleting substances like chlorofluorocarbons and hydrochlorofluorocarbons.  Dumping refrigerant is illegal by the way and you can rightly shudder if you see an old refrigerator tossed into a stream or down an embankment.

If your appliance isn’t too old, I would consider donating it to The Salvation Army or to Habitat for Humanity or to a needy family.  Even though it uses more energy it is likely to be an upgrade from what the person is currently using.

Consider when you are buying a new refrigerator to buy a smaller size and buy more fresh food.  Europeans do this regularly.  Also forget the icemaker.  It is an energy hog. With other appliances that don’t need to be on all the time try using them in off peak times to save stress on our energy grid.

Your turn:  What are your thoughts about becoming more green with your appliances?

Resources and inspirations: 

www.epa.gov

www.ehow.com (How to recycle a refrigerator).

http://repair2000.com/lifespan.html (Average life spans of major appliances).

http://voices.washsingtonpost.com (Buying eco-friendly appliances).

“Consumer’s Guide to Effective Environmental Choices: Practical Advice from the Union of Concerned Scientists,” by Michael Brower and Warren Leon.

Next week:  Green hair care

Note to readers:  I try to respond to every comment, though it might take a few days, so check back on your posting as I might have additional information for you.