Look, we know you've got a lot of questions about fridges. Relax — they're all answered here. Read on and you should find out everything you need to know about refrigerators.
What exactly does energy efficient mean?
Fridges use energy (electricity) to keep food cool. If there are two fridges of the same size, the one that uses less energy to keep cool is more energy efficient. The Energy Star rating is a guide to how a fridge is energy efficient; the more Energy Stars the more energy efficient it is.
It's important to remember that the Energy Star Rating does not tell you how much energy a fridge will use. It just tells you how good the fridge is at taking electricity and turning it into cooling. It is quite common for a large fridge to be more energy efficient than a small fridge. However, a large fridge will use more energy (electricity).
Which Energy Star Rating will help decrease my energy bill?
To decrease your energy (electricity) bill you must buy a fridge that uses less energy than your current fridge.
The Energy Rating label provides an energy consumption number in kilowatt-hours (kWh) per year. This is the amount of energy a fridge will use under set conditions, and can be used to compare how much energy (electricity) different fridges will use.
The smaller this number, the less energy the fridge will use. The kW-hours used per year will differ based on the size, type and energy efficiency of the fridge.
Your new fridge must have a smaller energy consumption number than your old fridge to decrease your energy bill. To maximise the decrease you should also buy the most energy-efficient fridge by selecting one with more Energy Stars.
Does a fridge with a greater capacity use more energy?
As a rule, larger fridges will generally use more energy than smaller fridges. However, it is possible for a larger fridge that is more energy efficient to use less energy than a smaller fridge which is less energy efficient.
So make sure you look carefully at the energy consumption number in kilowatt-hours (kWh) per year on the Energy Rating label. The fridge with the smaller number will use less energy.