Fridge question

[pgfpro]

This is kinda a strange question but its something I think about when the seasons change to the cooler side.

Now that the temperature outside is getting down towards freezing at night I get a warm fuzzy feeling that the fridge is helping heat our house at the same time keeping our food chilled while using less energy to over come the warmer seasonal temps. Is this correct? Its something I can't wrap my head around and therefore i get stuck in a loop of confusing.

It also bugs me that when we wash our clothes or take warm showers were wasting the heat that could be used to heat the house by letting the warm water go down the drain.

And yes I'm a strange duck.LOL

[bowtieguy]

take a bath, and drain it only after the water temp has cooled. theclencher likes avoiding florescent and LED lighting. for this reason. he uses the heat of incandescent lights.

[Jay2TheRescue]

Agreed, take a shower, but leave the plug in the tub, and don't let the water out till it has cooled. Incandescent bulbs are not a really efficient way of heating the house. I would think its better to use cooler, low wattage light like CFL and LED, and let the home heating system do what its designed to do.

That being said, I normally set my heat on 55, and wear a sweater in the house. I also have a heated mattress pad for the bed. I turn it on to heat up the bed, then turn it off when I go to bed.

[theholycow]

I imagine that incandescent bulbs are quite an efficient way to heat, depending on what your priorities are. They are 90% efficient at converting electricity into heat...

[GasSavers_GasUser]

I have thought about that before but I can't worry about it. The fridge is insulated but it does seem to come on more in the summer and less in the winter or maybe I am imagining it.

I lived for a year with no modern appliances. That is an experience.

In any event, I use whatever appliances, heat, hot water, A/C, lights that I need. I changed all my lighting to CFL where practical, etc. Have energy efficient appliances. I am mindful of the usage and don't waste it, but I will not suffer being too cold or hot either.

[Jay2TheRescue]

Most of the lights in the house are CFL, and I finally got my roommate to agree to ditch the top loading washer and get a new front loader. Now, not only does the washer use a lot less water, but the dryer dries a load in about 20 minutes, instead of the hour that the old one ran.

[theholycow]

I've never heard of a dryer that works in 20 minutes. I'm jealous!

[Jay2TheRescue]

Dryers run a lot faster when using them with a front loading washer. Front loading washers do a far better job of extracting the water out of the clothes than top loaders do. Its just another reason front loading washers are more efficient. They let your dryer run less.

[GasSavers_GasUser]

Originally Posted by theholycow

I've never heard of a dryer that works in 20 minutes. I'm jealous!

Yeah, 20 minutes is fast for the dryer. But with a good front loading washer that is more efficient, the clothes come out noticably dryer to start with I noticed with mine. This translates into less drying time saving energy. Anyway, 20 minutes is still fast for a dryer. Towels still take 1/2 hour or so with mine.

[GasSavers_Erik]

Yes- the fridge is helping to heat the house in the winter by transferring heat from the groceries out into the house.

If you only use resistance heating (baseboard heaters or some sort of plug in heaters), then incandescent bulbs are fine for heating. But if you have an electric heat pump (which is much more efficient because it transfers heat from the outside into to your house, resistance heating just converts electrical energy into heat) then you would be better off using CFL and LEDs for lighting and let the heat pump take care of the heat.