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View Full Version : r12 vs r134a minifridges (efficiency)



ziddey
22-06-2009, 01:56 AM
Just a simple question. I think I made a huge mistake.

I've recently acquired a ton of minifridges, with many being r12 and some r134a ones.

I was always under the impression that r12 was way more efficient, so I've been getting rid of the newer r134a ones.

I should have just dug through my closet to find my killawatt to find out for sure.

But anyway, I had a kenmore r134a minifridge that didn't have the condenser in the rear. Instead, it heated the walls. I figured this was horribly inefficient, so I gave it away when I got an equally sized old GE with r12 and a rear condenser.

But then I was reading that most fridges post1993 were at least 50% more efficient than earlier ones. Should I have kept the newer r134a one?

ziddey
22-06-2009, 01:57 AM
Ack, no edit button. So the minifridge became used for beer. The main fridge was opened way less, and in the end, the utility bill ended up being a few dollars less with the addition of the new r134a minifridge.

I just swapped in the r12 minifridge today. Should I expect a rise in cost now?

ziddey
22-06-2009, 01:59 AM
Ack, again didn't give enough info. The Kenmore fridge was from 2007. The GE now in use is from 1988

lowcool
22-06-2009, 05:04 AM
apart from r12 not being the most efficient refrigerant in the world you can still have a proper cold drink on a 43 deg c day.motor efficency has improved greatly since then

ziddey
22-06-2009, 05:25 AM
ah so it has. damn. I was going solely off r12 being more efficient than r134a, hence why I favored the older r12 units. Whoops...

ziddey
22-06-2009, 05:31 AM
Also, I was searching and came up on some articles describing the different new fridge techniques, but lost the link. Pretty much disproved each one of my preconceived notions. I always favor fridges with the external hanging condenser, but I read about the warm wall ones being better? Or warm walls and a fan inside (this I can understand)?

I'll pull out the killawatt tomorrow and see for sure how it's really doing.

Yuri B.
22-06-2009, 09:09 AM
Hello Ziddey.
So you have a bunch of (mini)fridges, and you want to cull inefficient and retain money-saving ones ? Buy or borrow a clamp ampermeter, and measure the currents consumed by every fridge. By that, measure the temp inside - they sell cheap digital thermometers with a long lead sensor (put the sens inside the fridge and monitor for a while the display). Which draw less amps, give at the same time lowest temp, work shortest time intervals (so, notice also for how long comp on and how long off - after having "worked in" ), leave them (even better say - the joungest of them).
I would do so.

icecube51
23-06-2009, 04:00 PM
yep, mesuring is nowing.

Ice

icecube51
23-06-2009, 04:01 PM
if it is possible to mount a runtime meter on the comps to compare.

Ice

lowcool
25-06-2009, 05:30 AM
any results yet ziddey ?

ziddey
25-06-2009, 06:26 AM
no, haven't dug through my box for the killawatt yet. But I will only be able to post power consumption for this current (larger) minifridge unit, since I gave away the newer r134a one. But hopefully, you guys will be able to tell me if I'm running grossly powerhungry or not. :)

Will reply with results in a few days hopefully. Thanks for the interest in this thread!