refrigeration

[snapdragon]

the page of the ISH-bible that I was supposed to 'do' (way back in the summer and I can't find the thread) was kitchen equipment - am now (finally) looking for a fridge freezer
my current fridge is about 20 years old, possibly even before ratings, and has been 'gently opened' by the dog on more than one occasion
the freezer is a small chest one. Have just heaved the kitchen out and back today and I read the label on it E rated!!
So a fridge-freezer is on the shopping list (making more floor space). 'A' rated I can get from £260, A+ seem to start at £380, I haven't seen a A++ yet
So here's some questions for the forum family
Does anyone know if there's much difference between these three?
Is it worth holding out for ++ or will I need a mortgage for it?
Is there a specific make thats greener? Has anyone any recommendations?
I'd prefer not to buy something that's travelled half way round the world so I'm looking mainly at european makes, and I really want something that will be reliable and hopefully last as long as the previous ones (LEC) but am open to ideas am going for a hot bath and some mulled cider now

[snapdragon]

"No Answer" came the stern reply

I'll get my coat

[red]

try this article

[Andy Hamilton]

There are some here but not cheap at all.

I would suggest that nipping into town and checking out the sales might be the best plan as some of them ones look a little pricey.

It would be worth making sure that you get one with parts that can be renewed and all that, basically one that lasts. no point getting an eco fridge that lasts 2 years.

[snapdragon]

thanks for that/those

Looking at the difference between what I have and the A rated ones - I think we may go in that direction - first it's one machine not two - second we're looking for something smaller than we have - as we no longer have two young men living here and eating for britain - so I reckon we'll be using no more than a third of what we are currently for refrigeration

2008 our major buy was a new boiler - so far it's proved to be using considerably less than half the fuel we used last December
happy snappy

to late to go shop now - but we have an 'end of line' type white goods shop six miles away which is my first choice, prefer not to let T£$€0 have my money

thanks for the input

[snapdragon]

'A' rated Bosch fridgefreezer arrived today, ( bought with my redundancy payout) small, neat, no excessive lights, quiet, much smaller externally than any of the A+ rated ones (so better for a small kitchen) but with a similar yearly amperage use. plenty enough room for us. The chest freezer will stay as dry storage for the time being, and may be freecycled later unless I hear of someone that's in need.

I haven't yet weeded the chest freezer-there are probably 'things' in the bottom of that from last century

[red]

yay!

we bought a bosch freezer last year and its very efficient.. very pleased with it. hope you are with your FF

[Peggy Sue]

It s all a bit too late now but... for interests sake I read a bit on the allotment.org.uk website about the cost of freezers/ fridge freezers per annum. The guy had worked out how much each different appliance used and it varied form about £65/year to £30ish/year if I remember rightly.

I did see an Indesit fridge freezer recently for £265 A+ which I thoguht was good, not sure where it's made in terms of miles travelled but I amy go for that given that my my second FF in the garage died so rather than scrounge a free one from freecycle that will probably be really ineffient I could get something new and it will pay for itself in savings. (Be nice to manage with one but having an allotment means the need to freeze quite a bit of stuff).

Anotehr tip I got from this article was not to buy anto defrost/frost free as this uses extra energy. Any input at this stage still welcome as I ahven't bought yet!

[snapdragon]

It s all a bit too late now but... for interests sake I read a bit on the allotment.org.uk website about the cost of freezers/ fridge freezers per annum. The guy had worked out how much each different appliance used and it varied form about £65/year to £30ish/year if I remember rightly.
I did see an Indesit fridge freezer recently for £265 A+ which I thoguht was good, not sure where it's made in terms of miles travelled

There was an amperage per annum number on the fridges etc where I bought mine, and mine was the same as an A+ which was larger (and in my kitchen size matters! )

Anotehr tip I got from this article was not to buy anto defrost/frost free as this uses extra energy. Any input at this stage still welcome as I ahven't bought yet!

Nod Nod - I didn't go for the 'no frost' version as it blasts a cold curtain out when you open the freezer using loads more energy - the frost free in the fridge however just cuts the power and allows built up frost to melt and drain away so that I don't mind.
I am superthrilled with mine as it's brought the fridge up to eye height and I no longer have to crouch on the floor to check what's in there, and the dragon (who finds crouching harder than I do) no longer buys stuff and throws it in without realising there's already some in there

[Thomzo]

I'm one of those sad people who go for style rather than practicality so when I saw a really stylish FF which was A rated I fell for it. But at £600 odd I did think about it twice. Fortunately, a couple of months later, I saw that it was in a half price sale so snapped it up. It wasn't long before I found out why it makes sense to spend a little bit more. I got home from work one day to find that I had accidentally left the freezer door slightly open. Not only was there an alarm going off, which would have alerted me had I been home, but also the freezer had automatically increased the power to prevent the food from defrosting. It means that all the food inside was absolutely fine. OK - so it would have cost more in electricity for the time the door was open but that would have been a lot less money than having to replace all the freezer contents.

Sometimes it does pay to spend a bit extra (or wait and get it in the sale).

Zoe

[Peggy Sue]

Good info on the difference between no frost and frost free thansk for that. I've alos done some surfing and found A+ FF for £270, will have to check out the measurements tonight I think.

Any idea where Indesit and Hotpoint are made? (Used to be Luton but the factory closed and not sure if it went abroad?)

That alarm would have helped with the old frigde, it had a dodgy seal and was always open a bit if you didn't double check- what a great idea.
Must think about a thermometer too....

[snapdragon]

Indesit used to be Italy and/or Spain but manufacture could have moved to eastern europe, I'm told that Hotpoint are made in Poland these days

[Big Al]

The index is thus not calculated in kW·h.
A++ A+ A B C D E F G
<30 <42 <55 <75 <90 <100 <110 <125 >125

If the above figures are top line rating and bottom line power consumption then on my tarrif of 15p per kwh the costs per year to run are as follows
A++ A+ A B C D E F G
£4.50 £6.30 £8.25 £11.25 £13.50 £15.00 £16.50 £18.75 £more than

This I find interesting because when I was away recently for 4 days the electric for the F & F was around 3.7 kwh per day. If my figures are true then mine must be well knackered or being under the counter is not the best place to have it. Also if the figures are right then the F & F accounts for over 1/3 of my leccy bill per year... I'm going to pull it out of the bench later today.

[snapdragon]

BigAl - are those numbers <30 etc etc per litre? or per square foot? seems it must be to do with size too because they're all different sizes
I think that's why mine came down to the same usage as a bigger but higher rated unit on the extra information available at the shop (which was more numbers that I can't remember what they denote)

[Big Al]

BigAl - are those numbers <30 etc etc per litre? or per square foot? seems it must be to do with size too because they're all different sizes
I think that's why mine came down to the same usage as a bigger but higher rated unit on the extra information available at the shop (which was more numbers that I can't remember what they denote)

I was just converting the figures in a previous post into actual money cost per year to run. I will have to look in the shops for more info tomorrow or Fridsy as Mrs Big Al is off for a week and we need to look at fridges and freezers.

Will report back soon.