Homeowner reveals simple hack to save some money on energy bills: 'Here are my results'

A Redditor was keen to share their energy savings to r/Frugal after going through a simple chore. 

The scoop

"Here are my results after cleaning the fridge. I moved into a new house and the old fridge had several years of dust in it," wrote the original poster alongside a graph showing energy usage. "0.5 kwh saving per day would be about 176 kwh per year. That could be a 15-50$ saving per year (and for maybe 5 more years) for 1 hr of work plus longer fridge life."

Others have claimed savings of $180 each year from cleaning the back of their fridge. 

How it's helping

Dust gathers in the back of a fridge over time, covering coils and vents. This blocks the transfer of heat and forces components to work harder for the same result. This not only means burning through more energy to keep a fridge compressor running, but the added stress of doing so can reduce the overall lifespan of your fridge. 

Keeping a fridge out of the landfill is vitally important. The refrigerant gas used in the closed loop of a fridge is a massive pollutant if left to leak. Alongside other major pollutants like carbon dioxide, this refrigerant can contribute to increasingly destructive weather patterns like floods, heat waves, and droughts. These create spikes in housing, agricultural, and ecological costs. 

By keeping an old fridge in service for as long as possible and disposing of refrigerant properly, homeowners can minimize the amount of atmospheric damage they cause. 

Heat pumps rely on the same technology as fridges, except they can also operate in reverse in order to warm living areas. These can also be a big help in improving home energy efficiency and saving up to $400 annually. Mitsubishi can connect homeowners to vetted local HVAC installers who can help them find the right heat pump. 

What everyone's saying

The r/Frugal community was impressed at how much money could be saved just by cleaning fridge coils. 

"If that is per day, you saved 180kWh or $60 at 30 cents a kWh (I'm in California). even at 15 cents that's still 30 bucks, maybe a drop in a bucket but I think it's very nice," said one commenter. 

How often do you clean your water bottle? Once a week 😤 Once a month 😇 Once a year 😅 Never 😷 Click your choice to see results and speak your mind.

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