Update: GE Under Counter Freezer usage report

[austinado16]

Some of you may remember that last month I bought a late 50's, early 60's GE under cabinet food freezer. Thought I'd report back on how it's doing, both functionally and electricity consumption wise.

The good news is that it runs beautifully and makes huge cold. The bad news is that my electric bill went up a solid $35ish for the month.......ouch.

The good news is that I took a look at the temp setting, and I had it on #4, so I turned it down to #1. That seemed to cause it to run about every 30 minutes, for about 5-6min. The bad news is that since I have no room inside for it, it has to live outside on the patio....but we haven't really been having hot weather, and it's not in direct sun, so at least for right now, I'd think that would be ideal for it as far as keeping itself cold goes.

I planned on putting inside some sort of cover, and then while surfing Craigslist yesterday I saw someone selling one of those Rubbermade horizontal vinyl storage "sheds" (like you'd put your trash cans in). $75 later, it fits the freezer like a glove, and is fully enclosed, floor and all. 2 doors on the front swing open like ambulance doors, and the roof lifts up like the hood of a car. Perfect design for how the GE freezer front door pulls out like a drawer. I punched a hole through the back so the electrical cord could run through, and bam, instant outdoor freezer storage.

So, we'll see if being inside this shed and having the temp dial set to #1 helps cut the electric consumption. Hope so, because I really like this freezer alot.

On a side note; One neat thing I discovered about it is that it appears to have a door switch down at the bottom of the freezer body, that turns on the compressor when you open the door. I'm guessing this is some way to help prevent frost build up? Anyone know?

 

[cfz2882]

condenser heat

if that shed is fairly small,some vents should be added so the heat given
off by the condensor won't build up inside the shed and cause the freezer
to run even more often than it would in open air.
BTW does this freezer have a fan forced condenser?
If the freezer seems to run more often than it should,insulation may have
settled some over the decades and need repositioned.

 

[austinado16]

Thanks for the tips...

Yes, this has a huge fan which appears to be set up to suck air through the grill under the front door, over the 3 horizontal rows of the condensor, then over the compressor, and sideways through the fan, and then out a seperate opening that rearward and sort of above the fan.

The shed about 2 feet wider than the freezer, but the doors are about 1" from the front door (2+ inches from the lower intake grill) and the back of the freezer is about 3" from the back wall.

I wouldn't call it a very air tight shed, but the way the doors and roof overlap, it probably is. I'll keep an eye on the interior temps as I continue to experiment with the set up. It wouldn't be a problem to install a premade set of metal louvers (like for a house foundation) into the back wall.

Quick question: The freezer is missing some sort of fiber-board back panel that looks like it was screwed in place over the large compressor access area, and over the exit for the fan. Should I make one for it in order to control/improve airflow over the condensor? And, would this cover have been solid in the area of the compressor, and then sort of a grill-work where the fan airflow exits.....sort of like turning the underside of the freezer into a duct?

 

[cfz2882]

fiberboard panel

yes,that fiberboard panel might be important to direct the airflow of the
fan correctly-the rear panel is very important on GE and WP refrigerators
that have the bottom mount fan forced condensors;these are sometimes missing
on the friges that turn up at my local consign shop-without this panel in
place the condenser gets no airflow and the fridge won't cool...i have made
a few panels for the consign shop...
If the condensor on your freezer is not getting proper airflow,it might be
operating inefficently;with the fan running,if it will suck a piece of
paper towel aganst the grill,the airflow is probably good.

 

[austinado16]

Have jig-saw will travel...

Thanks for the info. I'll get a scrap of some FRP or something and make a panel.

So would it be correct that there would be no grill-work in the area of the compressor so that 100% of the air was forced to travel from the front grill below the door, through the condensor, around/passed the compressor, through the fan blades and over the fan motor, and then exit?

 

[cfz2882]

airpath

that sounds correct,GE fridges with condenser fan('60s-'80s)have the same
airflow path with grill slots in the fiberboard panel behind the exhaust
side of the fan

 

[dj-gabriele]

Gosh! 35USD of electricity in a month? That's around 220kWh at 16 cents/kWh. Exactly what my "modern" (5 years ago) freezer uses in a year! And now there are even more efficient models...

Even if you really like that freezer, are you sure you want to keep it regardless of this HUGE waste of resources?

 

[austinado16]

No, I'm not sure that I'll keep it.

But I'm going to put a bit more effort into seeing if I can affect it's performance. Bottom line is, it wouldn't be worth it to me to spend $30-$35/mo just to keep some food frozen.

I'm kinda shocked at the energy useage though. Our entire home is nothing but vintage appliances, including out 1952 Philco refrigerator, the 1959 Kitchen Aid KD-12 dishwasher and the 1953 Westinghouse Laundry Twins. Our bill stays rock solid at about $48/mo and raised about $5/mo when I added the vintage 70 gallon aquarium. I get a little blip in December from running xmas lights, and a little blip if I put the 10,000btu modern airconditioner in the window, but otherwise, we have a very low electric useage. Needless to say, the useage that the freezer appears to have brought on is kinda shocking. It didn't seem like it ran that often, and when it did run, it was only for a very short period. I just don't see how it consumes so much power. It even looks like it has a newer compressor, because it's shiny new paint, with nice new decals on it, and a new capasitor for starting.....meanwhile the rest of the mechanicals have that patina of 60 years on them.

 

[passatdoc]

Re; saving energy. Perhaps put a thermometer in there. Optimal freezer temps are 0F/-17C. If your freezer is colder that than, you may be able to reduce the setting and save energy.

 

[austinado16]

Good suggestion. Just shot the inside with my infrared temp gun and it's at 3*F.....and that's with the temp control dial on setting #1.

Guess I'll make a back panel for it and make sure the door switch is working correctly at all times. I could see that switch hanging up and causing the freezer to run non-stop, or run often.

I know the gasket seals good, checked it by closing the door on a piece of paper and it held it snug all the way around the door.

 

[rp2813]

Hey Todd,

 

Did PG&E install a "Smart Meter" on your electric panel recently?  Lots of people have complained that they saw a spike in their electric bills after their old analog meter was switched out for a Smart Meter, and PG&E had finally admitted that a "small percentage" of its Smart Meters may have issues.  PG&E maintains that the new meters are simply telling the real story, as some of the old meters were turning more slowly than they should have been, etc. etc.  They have an answer for everything.

 

But in this case, the answer may be that your freezer isn't really the hog you think it is.

 

 

 

 

[austinado16]

Nope still spinning the same old meter.

I'll give it another month and see what happens with shed for cover, the door switch confirmed good/fixed/or disconnected, and the proper rear panel.

Just did a little test of the meter spin. With this computer turned off, and the aquarium off, the meter goes to an almost complete stop. I have to stare at it to see if it's moving. Then, if I fire up the freezer, the meter spins at a rate of about an inch of travel in a 5 count. So the freezer definately has an impact.[this post was last edited: 2/3/2011-15:21]

 

[austinado16]

Installed a solid rear panel, just to cover the compressor area, and left the square opening that's above and rearward of the fan, completely open.

I did the paper towel over the front grill trick and yes, there's enough suction to hold it to the grill.

There's no door switch, the area where wires and some other tubes go up into looks like it feeds the temp control dial.

I removed some of the plastic trim panels that surround the big front opening and the insulation is still like brand new, same with the door insulation.

I used some 3M adheasive remover and got all the goopy build up off the door seal.

While under it I noticed that the refrigeration system looks like it's designed for zero clearance at the back and for airflow to enter through the lower grill at the middle and right, but then make a U-turn at the back of the cabinet where the fan is (positioned perpendicular to the front of the freezer), and then blow forward, over a plastic drip tray and out the left of the grill area. So, I guess I'll cover that opening at the fan to promote this U shaped airflow.

 

[supersuds]

Still seems astonishing it would move the meter that much!

Even in the 1950s that amount of electricity would have cost people a lot of money.

Hope you can make it work economically. Those things are neat.

 

[cfz2882]

may check mine

i may check my old Ca.1946 GE chest freezer down in the basement to see
how many amps it pulls and hook a watt-hour meter to it for a month to see
what it consumes...might check the Ca.1972 GE 2nd fridge too(manual def.)
Did check my 1968 vintage italian made mini fridge and found it only pulls
.9amps while a slightly smaller '70s japanese mini fridge pulled .5 amp
the little japanese one is not well insulated and it's tiny compressor
cannot keep up on a real hot day and i get some melting of the ice on the
freezer.A fairly big 1980 absocold"mini"fridge was found to pull 1.2 amp.
BTW that absocold is made in usa,but the compressor looks japanese..
more recent absocolds i have seen were made in mexico...

 

[rp2813]

Todd, that condenser fan arrangement sounds typical of the smooth-back designed refrigerators made by GE and other manufacturers.  On the promo material for my '57 GE Combination, which has the smooth back for installation flush against a wall or to completely build-in, it's described as a "Forced Draft Condenser."  Typically the fan is mounted sideways as you described, and there should be no opening in back so the air has no choice but to blow out the front and over the drip pan. 

 

If  I recall correctly, my Whirlpool fridge that had a clean back design with the same condenser fan configuration may have had some slots in the rear panel near the compressor, but otherwise it was a solid piece.  I'm pretty sure that the panel on the back of my Combination is solid and offers no place for the air moved by the condenser fan to escape except over the pan and  through the front grille on the left side.

 

My KA Architect side-by-side that's about a year and a half old has the same system.  It hasn't changed much in over 50 years. 

 

What this means is that depending on conditions where dust is concerned, you should vacuum the condenser coils once or twice a year, or you can buy a condenser coil brush at any appliance parts place and use that.  Late model fridges supposedly don't require it, but I still vacuum the coils under the KA at least once a year.

 

 

 

[austinado16]

Based on how it's designed to move air, it maybe have just been really inefficient at removing heat from the coils, and on top of that, I had it turned up to #4 or something. It's actually making quite a bit of suction on the intake side, and pressure on the outlet side of the grill now, and that will increase tomorrow, when I cover that opening by the fan.

But as you say, I don't see how it used that much energy either. It's just a small fan motor, and the compressor isn't even as big as the one on my Philco...so I don't see how they'd be heavy amp users.

I'm really hoping this works out, because for about a half dozen reasons, I really like this freezer alot.

 

[austinado16]

Modern 2 drawer freezer

Looked up the specs for a modern version of my freezer. The Delfield Model UC4532N Under Counter "Front Breathing" Freezer uses 4.44kilowatts per day, which winds up being about $17 per month. It uses 9.5amps.

At least now I have a comparison value to work with.

Time go buy one of those "Kill A Watt" meters and see what this thing's doing.

 

[gizmo]

4.4 kwh a day!!!

My 217 litre 2 door fridge uses approx. 1/2 a kwh a day. Actual measured consumption using a Power Mate Lite meter.

Putting that fridge inside a small shed is likely to increase its consumption. If the shed door is close to the grille on the fridge, could you cut a slot in the door of the shed to allow unimpeded airflow for the fridge? Preferably an open slot, no mesh or louvres.

Chris.