BAR FRIDGE QUESTION (1 Viewer)

[RagingAZN]

I host my poker games in the garage and have just replaced my old fridge with a new one. Since I only host a game every 2 weeks, is it best to keep the fridge running all the time?

Or just turn it on the day before and off afterwards?

Seems like a waste of electricity to run it all the time when I only need it once every 2 weeks.

 

[Anthrax]

Or just turn it on the day before and off afterwards?

#metoo

why waste the energy? it cools down in a few hours, so no need for non stop running

 

[chippitydoodah]

Why have a fridge at all? Get yourself a cooler and ice? If money is tight you don't even need to buy a cooler. Just lay your fridge on its back and add ice!

Seriously though, it's not the best idea to turn a fridge off for 2 weeks then run it for 1 day then turn it off for 2 weeks again and again.
#1 it's gonna start to smell
#2 it takes 6 to 12 hours for a fridge to reach temperature

 

[4SUMERZ]

I have one in my poker room, inbedded in the wall which protrudes into the maintenance room. I keep it on all the time even though the most we play is twice per month at most.

 

[Anthrax]

oh, my bad, didn´t see the freezer. Freezer probably needs more time to cool down. I have a normal fridge for the poker room and ice goes in a seperate ice cooler

 

[dkellerd]

Getting hot and cold over and over ruins beer…especially canned beer.

 

[mike32]

I unplug mine when not in use and put any beer in the garage fridge. I usually fill it up and plug it in a day before. Works for me, and I don’t need to worry about defrosting it. I’m in the why waste energy and money club.

 

[Tonysquander]

I don’t know how much you’re really saving by turning it on and off. When you turn it on it has to work harder and longer, fans run longer, etc. to get to temp than if it was just maintaining temp with doors closed the whole time. Fridge’s only use about 3 to 4 kW. That’s about $.40-$.50 a day. I leave my beer fridge on 24/7.

 

[Irish]

Definitely wouldn't do that with beer in the fridge. With just soda/water it probably doesn't matter. The overall energy savings likely depends on how warm the garage gets. If its regularly hot out there and unit is kicking on multiple times a day, you may save a few bucks. If not, it's probably a wash with the extra energy needed to recool the whole fridge down every 2 weeks. Might make more sense to just adjust the internal temperature (ie adjust to the warmest temp when not in "poker" mode)

 

[buzzmonkey]

Get a smart plug from amazon and plug the fridge into it. You can test it yourself by measuring the power usage via a connected app. My guess is that it takes more power to get the fridge up to temp than you would use over 2 weeks to maintain temp, but I couldn't say for sure. I keep my fridge at the highest temperature setting, since it's full of liquid. The liquid take a longer time to warm up than the air so the fridge shouldn't have to spin up as often.

 

[Colquhoun]

And if you decide to keep it plugged in, always keep it full. A fridge full of cold items doesn’t need to cycle on as much as one with less items.