Having a few cold ones on hand costs the country millions

By SIMON COLLINS

Using an old fridge to keep the beer stocked up is costing the country millions of dollars a year.

A survey of 400 homes by the Building Research Association has found that 10 per cent of fridges and freezers are faulty and a further 8 per cent are "marginal to faulty".

Many are believed to be backup "beer fridges", as the survey also found that the average household has 1.9 refrigeration appliances.

In total, the 400,000 substandard fridges cost the country $33 million a year in wasted energy.

On average, each substandard fridge or freezer uses 550 kilowatt hours more electricity than it should, adding just over $80 a year to the average power bill.

The association's principal scientist, Nigel Isaacs, told the Royal Society's annual conference in Christchurch this week that the faulty fridges were also pumping out chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), sucking ozone out of the atmosphere and letting more of the sun's dangerous ultraviolet rays through to the Earth.

Fifty-five per cent of the country's fridges and 80 per cent of its freezers were made before 1994, when CFCs were phased out to protect the ozone layer.

"The number of refrigeration appliances with problems is so large that there is an opportunity for real benefits," said Mr Isaacs.

He said fridges and freezers that worked properly should be switching on and off regularly to maintain the internal temperature at the right level.

But many substandard fridges were running almost all the time, either keeping the temperature too cold or letting some of the cold air escape through poor insulation.

The association's Household Energy End-Use Project survey also found that people were using far more energy for appliances such as clothes driers, videos, DVD players, home computers and clock radios than previously.

Appliances, including lights, have increased from 28 per cent of the average residential power bill in 1972 to 49 per cent today.

Water heating has dropped from 44 per cent to 28 per cent, partly because of the increased use of gas, and cooking has almost halved from 13 per cent to 7 per cent as people have shifted to quick-heat convenience meals and takeaways.

Home heating has stayed about the same at 15 per cent of the power bill 30 years ago and 17 per cent today.

Including gas and other fuels as well as electricity, the average person uses 27 per cent more energy at home today than they did in 1972.

However, the average residential use has dropped by 6 per cent since 1990, partly because of the decline in home cooking.

"The household cooking energy has simply been shifted to the restaurant and industrial sector," Mr Isaacs said.

He said 10 per cent of residential energy was used for devices such as clock radios and heated towel rails that were left on all the time and others, such as remote-controlled televisions, that were left plugged in on standby.

Mr Isaacs said the Government was trying to reduce power wastage through the Electricity Commission.