Fascinating how your refrigerator will suddenly die at just the right time (like it did 4th of July weekend): in-laws and other family members are visiting, it’s packed with new food, I’m on crutches(I’ll blog about that maybe as well).

Suddenly we have to buy ice (or dry ice) to keep it cold until next week’s delivery of a new one.

Well, we went out and chose a Fisher and Paykel brand. The company is from New Zealand –energy efficiency is one of their hallmarks. It should cost around $45 a year to run (roughly 500 Kilowatt hours or so). And the price of the fridge is average. We also own F & P washer and dryer, and they’ve worked great for the last 4 years or so.

But…what if you have a fridge that is already working great ? And, of course, summer weather makes your fridge work harder –how do you run your refrigerator more cheaply?

I gleaned some key tips this morning from the ‘lighterfootstep blog’ . Here they are:

1. Check your door seals. Put a piece of paper in the fridge door and see how easy it is to remove. If it slips right out, you know cold air is doing the same thing. A little silicone spray may renew the rubber sufficiently to improve things. Otherwise, check on the availability of replacement seals.
2. Clean the coils on the back of your refrigerator once or twice a year. Dust build-up insulates the coils, making heat transfer less efficient. Vacuum whenever you notice a dust buildup. Be sure to unplug first.
3. Relocate your refrigerator if it’s in direct sunlight, beneath a heating duct, or next to your range or oven. The warmer your fridge’s environment, the harder it must work to keep its contents cool.
4. Be sure there’s a few inches of clear space between the condenser coils and the wall. There should be similar space on the sides. Give the warm air coming off the coils somewhere to go.
5. Set your thermostats to realistic levels. ENERGY STAR recommends 35 to 38 degrees Fahrenheit for the fridge, and 0 degrees for the freezer. It’s worth checking these temperatures with a household thermometer.
6. Keep the freezer defrosted. A quarter inch of frost is too much.
7. A full freezer is a good thing for your refrigerator’s efficiency. That’s not the case in the cold section, however. Avoid overcrowding, and leave room for air circulation.
8. Cover liquids stored in the fridge. Uncovered foods release moisture, making your fridge’s compressor work harder.
9. Quick in; quick out. The less you keep the refrigerator and freezer doors open, the less energy you’ll use. Organize your fridge so things are easy to find. Label frozen goods for quick identification.
10. You can improve an older refrigerator’s efficiency by up to 10% by attaching one-inch foam sheeting to the sides. Too ugly? Do the side facing the wall and save 5%. Don’t cover coils or electrical lines, and leave room against the wall for air circulation.

Here’s a more unique idea though: design your house to make use of the ‘coolth’ (cold temperatures outside) in the winter and “pipe it” into your refrigerator during that winter days and cool evenings in summer.

Some Earthships feature ‘Thermal Mass Refrigerators’ that do exactly that. They are lined inside with a layer of alcohol which holds the temperature better than if it were just lined with insulation. The plans are featured in “Earthship Volume III: Evolution Beyond Economics” by Michael Reynolds. But you don’t need an Earthship to have one–just don’t alter your rental unless your landlords give the OK. :)

Earthships: I interned in Taos at their main site for about a week or so. Earthships are supercharged sustainability buildings: cheap to build, make your own food/water/power and process your wastes in one place. Mr. Reynold’s team is doing some wild stuff around the world now — including New Orleans — building demo-housing that is ‘hurricane proof’. Definitely worth a read. And as for potential interns…pounding soil into tires is, surprisingly, fun.