I have a 24 year old mini fridge that’s still alive and kicking. It’s a model that actually also has a freezer compartment.

I’ve been thinking about replacing it - especially since the freezer portion no longer works. But I was also curious how much more energy efficient fridge tech has gotten in the past 20 years? Like would I make up the cost of a new mini fridge pretty quickly based off the less power consumption?

I actually have one of those electricity monitors hooked up to it logging the data and I’m still kinda researching - but thought hey I’ll just ask c/nostupidquestions and maybe someone here might know right off the dome! Thanks in advance

  • IsoKiero@sopuli.xyzEnglish
    23·
    6 hours ago

    I don’t have answer for you, but Alec over at Technology Connections made a video few days ago related to the topic. That might not have the answer for you either, but as his videos (and there’s a ton of those, even for refridgerators) are among of the best at youtube that is worth cheking out.

    But as a rule of thumb, new materials and hardware are better on pretty much every metric. And if your current one doesn’t work properly anymore it’ll most likely uses way more power than it should, as coolant flow/insulation/something isn’t in fully working condition and thus compressor needs to run more often than on a new unit.

    • Catoblepas@lemmy.blahaj.zone
      7·
      6 hours ago

      I actually watched that a few days ago, main takeaway I got from it was NEVER use a mini fridge with a thermoelectric cooler rather than one with a real compressor.

        • Catoblepas@lemmy.blahaj.zone
          3·
          6 hours ago

          Where do you live that they can’t be called mini fridges? I’m in California and Home Depot sells them here as mini fridges. It does say that it’s thermoelectric, but you have to look for it.

          • Gerudo@lemm.ee
            2·
            40 minutes ago

            They are talking about those cheap “can coolers”. Usually holds a 6pack or so and fits on a desk. The small “dorm style” fridges in HD and lowes are actual fridges with coolant.