How'd You Fancy A Shagpile On The Fridge?
Sydney Morning Herald
Wednesday December 10, 2008
SHAGPILING the fridge may sound a bit Austin Powers, but it could mean it uses 50 per cent less power, says the greenie website treehugger.com.
Dilemmas readers with one eye on melting ice caps and another on making their kitchen groovier than a Mini with a Union Jack painted on the roof might want to consider it.All you need is some carpet, bits of wood, instructions (see www.chelseagreen.com/content/index.php?p=1052) and Bob's your uncle: a layer of insulation and a very funky look, baby, yeah.The cats at the Department of the Environment are sceptical. When Dilemmas asked why shagpile wasn't their bag, baby, they said carpet might reduce a fridge's effectiveness by keeping heat in.Regardless of whether this is true, Dilemmas begrudgingly admits that there are probably easier ways to improve a fridge's efficiency.Fridges are the Dr Evil of the home, using more electricity than any other appliance and responsible for between 7 and 13 per cent of home energy use.Newer is better: a 10-year-old fridge can cost $200 a year to run and produce 1.7 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year, says EnergyAustralia. A new fridge can cost $60 a year and emit less than 500 kilograms.Households with two fridges can get the second one (if it's more than 10 years old and working) recycled through the NSW government buyback scheme. If removal is straightforward you can even be paid $35 into the bargain. Say it slowly, Dr Evil- style - thirty-five dollars - and it sounds like a lot. See www.fridgebuyback.com.au for details. Otherwise see www.recyclingnearyou.com.au for fridge recyclers.Energy star labels make buying a new fridge easy: every star on a family fridge cuts greenhouse gas emissions by more than 100 kilograms a year, says the Department of the Environment. However, when it comes to ergonomics, there's bad news: fridge freezers with the fridge on top may save your back but they use more energy than models with the fridge on the bottom, Choice magazine recently found. The side-by-side models were worse still.Maintaining the right temperature is crucial: every degree means 50 kilograms of greenhouse gases a year. Three to five degrees is good for the fridge; minus 18 degrees for the freezer. A $20 freezer thermometer could be a good investment.Don't put hot food in the fridge and don't dawdle with the door open.Locate the fridge away from heat sources, leave a few centimetres of space on all sides, vacuum the condenser coils (usually at the back) every six months and make sure the door seals are good. If the motor runs almost all the time or if ice builds up rapidly, it's time for maintenance.A common piece of advice is to fill empty space with bottles of water (or beer) to improve the efficiency of the fridge. Whether this advice is worthwhile would depend on how much space there is, how often you open the door and how quickly you drink beer (or water).Trying to work it out would be enough to make you want to do without a fridge altogether, which might not be as daft as it sounds, at least for city dwellers close to shops. Dairy goods could be kept in an evaporative cooler such as a Koolgardie safe, says Geoff Lawton, head of the Permaculture Research Institute, and everything else could be bought as needed."It would improve our health if we bought fresh food every day and had access to naturally preserved food," Lawton says. "It would also get more people to garden."That may be so, but what would everyone do with all their spare bits of shagpile? Got a green dilemma? Email swebster@fastmail.com.au
© 2008 Sydney Morning Herald