Getting a chest freezer might mean an increase in your energy consumption, so it’s necessary to know the energy requirements of your freezer, especially if you’re looking at buying one.
You need to understand the energy requirements of any chest freezer you plan to own so that you can make informed decisions that will result in low energy bills and will not strain your budget.
Fortunately for you, I have your best interests at heart, and I have done thorough research to put together the average energy usage of several chest freezers, and hope that you will choose the one that doesn’t strain your budget, and would help you to save money on energy bills.
The standard energy consumption of most chest freezers is between 200 to 400 watts. The condition of the appliance, the humidity of the location, and the ambiance of the temperature play a huge part in the amount of energy your chest freezer uses.
However, other factors like manner of use and the size of your appliance can contribute to the energy consumed and accompanying costs. The cost of running a chest freezer is usually around $4 per month, which can translate to $53 every year.
So when getting a chest freezer, it’s important for you to know that the larger the chest freezer you buy, the larger the amount you will pay for energy the freezer will use. And you don’t want that, do you? Well, except you are not on a budget. But if you are, you need to watch out for these things.
Read also: How Long Do Chest Freezers Last?
Costs And Power Usage Of Chest Freezers
The major factor that determines the amount of energy consumed is the size of your chest freezer. This also affects the cost of energy.
Because, if the size of your chest freezer is on the high side, the energy consumption will be high and this means a high energy bill for you. Lots of money would be spent.
But if a smaller chest freezer is gotten, then you can be rest assured that your electric bill will not be high. Even if the bill is high, it’s definitely not because of your chest freezer.
I have categorized freezers based on size and equally listed their capacity.
Continue reading to see and know the four categories of freezers which are based on size and capacity. This will help you to make the right choice when it comes to buying a chest freezer.
Large
This category of chest freezers is above 17 cubic feet, and you should expect a large power consumption.
Medium
Any chest freezer that is 10 or about 16 cubic feet is medium-sized. And its energy consumption is not as high as the large category, although it is also on the high side.
Small
Small freezers are chest freezers between 5 to 9 cubic feet. Their energy consumption is quite low, but it can go lower than that.
Compact
With just 3-5 cubic feet, this is the smallest freezer size and it has the lowest power consumption. They are best for people who are on a budget but are dying to have a chest freezer.
Small and compact chest freezers use about 1 amp of electric current or about 100 watts to run. However, they can use 6 amps of current or around 700 watts to start.
On average, their power consumption costs around $26 to $63 per year, which translates to as little as $2.16 per month. However, this depends on the region or state you are in. In some states, it can go higher than that. In others, it goes lower.
To power a medium-sized freezer, about 355 watts of current would be needed. This translates to a cost of about $53 annually or about $4 per month. However, keep in mind that a lot of factors like the mode of usage can affect the cost of energy and also your state of residence.
Chest freezers in the large category can use around 350 to 450 watts. Statistics and research into energy statistics indicate that large chest freezers can use up to around 980 to 1000 kilowatt-hours every year.
This implies that you’re looking at $67 in energy bills per year. $67 every year spread across 12 months gives you about $5 monthly. This might not seem like a lot to a lot of people, but to others, this is way higher than they can budget for.
Your Chest Freezer and Cost of Electricity
The cost of electricity and energy usage that most electrical appliances, including your chest freezer, depends on a plethora of factors like fuels, the transmission from power plant, weather conditions, season, power plant distribution and cost, and local regulations. That is if we’re talking about electricity distribution on a large scale.
In the United States, electricity costs $0.1319 per kilowatt-hour on average, although the majority of residential customers pay about $0.1331 per kilowatt-hour (kWh). Prices differ from state to state. While some states’ bills might be very high, others might be low, or a little more tolerable.
According to reports from Electric Choice, in the state of California, the cost of electricity in the first quarter of 2021 was $19.90 for every kilowatt-hour, whereas people living in Florida only paid $11.37 for the exact same time.
Among the fifty states, Hawaii had the costliest electricity bill in the whole of the United States with $32.76. Alaska is following close behind at $22.54. In third position was Connecticut with $21.62.
Therefore, it is important that you do proper research on the best freezer for you so that you don’t incur heavy electricity bills. You don’t want to end up spending all your money on paying electric bills for your chest freezer alone.
The good news is that you can avoid high power costs by monitoring the energy consumption of your electrical appliances like your chest freezer. This can be done with the aid of an electric usage monitor.
The electric usage monitor is a handy device that you can use to measure the amount of power in watts your chest freezer has used either in a day or a month.
If you have plans to install an electric usage monitor for your chest freezer, then you will have to do the following.
- Switch your chest freezer off and unplug the freezer cord from the electrical power source.
- Insert the electric usage monitor into your chest freezer outlet, then connect your chest freezer cord to the electricity monitor outlet.
- Immediately after you do this; your freezer now has an electric usage monitor which you can use to track the amount of power your freezer is consuming.
What Watt Powers My Chest Freezer?
After you have successfully installed the electricity monitor that watches your chest freezer power consumption, you will find out that your chest freezer consumes a lot of energy when it is powered up.
This usually lasts for a few seconds and it’s called surge watts. It’s totally normal for that to happen, so don’t let it scare you.
It shows that your chest freezer, like all other chest freezers, would need a very high amount of energy to power up and begin working.
Chest freezers usually use double to triple the energy required to run to start up. To put it in perspective, your chest freezer can draw up 600 watts to start up, whereas it only uses 200 watts to run.
This might seem like a problem, but it’s totally normal and not something to worry about. It’s the regular behavior of every home equipment with compressors and almost all freezing appliances.
The complexity of the compressor components in the chest freezer means that it will require more electrical energy for it to reach a state where it can run continuously without affecting the content inside the freezer.
Can I Save Energy By Defrosting?
So, you have just discovered that surge watts and even running watts increase your power bills. I know you are probably asking if there are any tips or hacks that you can apply to help you limit your energy consumption.
Well, there is!
A valuable technique you can employ to reduce your electricity bill is constantly defrosting your freezer. By defrosting your appliance, you clear away the buildup of ice in your chest freezer.
This ice buildup makes the compressor work harder, which means that the compressor will draw a lot of energy to maintain your freezer’s internal temperature.
Fortunately, most modern freezers come pre-installed with automatic systems which regulates and activates when your chest freezer needs to defrost.
In 24 hours, How Long Will My Chest Freezer Work?
If your chest freezer is new, General Electric speculates that it can work for about 80 to 90 percent in 24 hours. But, if your freezer is old, you will have to make do with it working for 50 percent in 24 hours.
You might have noticed that a chest freezer does not run up to 100%. If it does, your food is not safe. And something might be wrong with your freezer compressor.
Chest freezers operate on an off and on cycle to give the compressor time to cool every half hour. So if your chest freezer works at 100%, it’s an error and a sign of trouble for your compressor. Because it is not taking the rest it deserves.
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