You are maybe one of the individuals who are asking how much savings on inverter refrigerator. Inverter refrigerator technology is getting popularity nowadays. What is the difference between it and the traditional refrigerator? How much saving to expect by choosing the inverter type? How long to get the return of investment in using the inverter one? Let us answer all these questions here. Just continue reading below.
What is a Traditional Refrigerator?
If we say inverter on non-inverter, it refers to the compressor. For the traditional, it uses a non-inverter compressor. Non-inverter compressor has only one speed which is always at full speed. During start up, it will immediately go full speed until the set temperature is reached. Then turn off when the setting is attained. The process will continue forever. The continuous transition between on and off will create a noticeable noise especially during nighttime.
A traditional refrigerator is mostly used in household as of this writing. However, some those who are recently replacing their refrigerator are already choosing the inverter type.
A traditional refrigerator can be compared to a traditional air condition. The compressor is continuously transitioning between on and off states to maintain a target room temperature.
What is an Inverter Refrigerator?
Inverter refrigerator has added feature to its compressor. Instead of running to a single speed and continuously turn on and off, the inverter compressor will work on a variable speed and never turn off during the operation.
During start-up, the inverter compressor starts slowly or has a soft start function. It will go full speed to attain the temperature setting. Once the temperature setting is reached, the compressor speed will slow down to a value just enough to maintain the temperature but not turning off.
An inverter type refrigerator can be compared to an inverter air condition. It will vary compressor speed to attain the set room temperature.
Is it true that Inverter Refrigerator Consume Less Power than Traditional Refrigerator?
Considering we are comparing the same compressor size; the answer is yes! But how? How much?
During start-up, the inverter refrigerator will start smoothly. Because of this, there is no inrush current or current spike in every start up. Inrush current will result to a power surge that when accumulated will add relevant value to the monthly bill.
Aside from this, after starting up, the inverter refrigerator will not turn off anymore unless there is power loss. It will maintain a certain lower speed just enough to keep the target temperature. This means a lower power consumption on the process.
The traditional refrigerator during startup has current spikes. The current spikes during startup results to power loss over time. The speed is always full that result to a maximum stabilized current. When the set temperature is attained, the compressor turns off. The process will continuously repeat.
How Much Savings on Inverter Refrigerator?
It is certain that the inverter type refrigerator is drawing less power than the traditional one. But, by how much savings exactly? Inverter type is expensive, by when to start realizing the saving?
I have comparison below for Condura inverter and non-inverter refrigerator. The price difference is 3,000 Php. The power consumption of the inverter type is 55W while 70W for the non-inverter type.
The monthly energy consumption of the refrigerator is the product of the power consumption and the total number of operating hours. Refrigerator is an appliance that is designed to operate all the times. So,
Energy Consumed per Month = Power consumption X 24Hours/day X 30days = Power consumption X 720Hours
For the inverter (CSD600SAI)
Energy Consumed per Month = Power consumption X 720Hours = 55W X 720Hours = 39.6kWHour
Energy Consumption per Year = 39.6kWHr X 12 = 475.2kWHour
For the non-inverter (CSD600MN)
Energy Consumed per Month = Power consumption X 720Hour = 70W X 720Hour = 50.4kWHour
Energy Consumption per Year = 50.4kWHour X 12 = 604.8kWHour
The difference in the yearly energy consumption is 129.6kWHour in favor of the inverter type. This means that the inverter type is around 27.2% efficient than the traditional non-inverter refrigerator.
[(604.8 – 475.2) / 475.2] X 100% = 27.3%
Supposing the cost of each kWHour is Php8, this will give a yearly saving of Php1,036.8. Since the purchase price difference is Php3,000, it will take 3 years to realize the true saving of the inverter refrigerator. This analysis is based on Philippine currency and cost per kilowatt-hour. For countries wherein the cost per kilowatt-hour is cheap, it will take more than 3 years to get the benefit of the inverter type considering the same purchase price difference.
So now, how much saving on using inverter refrigerator? Based on the above example brand and model, its nothing for the first few years. However, on the long run, it is all savings from the total bill.
Due to soft starting and optimum speed control of the inverter refrigerator, its compressor will last longer compared to the non-inverter type. Considering a 10-year life, the total saving is Php7,368. Is this what you are expecting? Is this worth investing to a higher purchase price? It is up to you to decide now.
Below is a calculation I made to get the savings on a 10-year life span of the refrigerator. This includes already the purchase price difference.
How to quantify for yourself on how much savings on inverter refrigerator? Simply use the Saving Calculator!
My calculations above are based on Php currency. For you to have better understanding and picture of how much savings on inverter refrigerator, I made a simple excel template that you can use.
All you need to do is supply information into the fields in yellow. The template will do the calculation for you. Then you can see when you can start getting the saving and how much you could save for a 10-year period.
Don’t focus only on how much savings on inverter refrigerator. There are other deciding factors…
Aside from answering the question on how much savings on inverter refrigerator, there are some factors that made the inverter type a better choice than the traditional one. Inverter refrigerator is silent compared to the traditional one. During nighttime, you will not be disturbed by the refrigerator operation. Inverter compressor has longer life span than the traditional one. This means, it is unlikely to encounter early troubles. Moreover, the inverter type will likely maintain performance as brand new due to soft starting of the compressor and operating at the optimum speed. As compared to the traditional refrigerator, when it aged, its power consumption may increase due to wear and tear because of non-soft starting and continuously turns on and off.
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I don’t think your calculation is correct. The non-inverter refrigerator max consumption is 70W, but as you mentioned, it goes through the cycle of being on and off so it’s wrong to multiple 70W by 24 hours.
Same with the inverter one, having 55W consumption doesn’t mean that it uses 55W the whole day. It is a inverter after all, so the consumption will be variable. It’s also wrong to multiple it by 24 hours also.
Arvin, you are right. There must be a multiplier to consider the idle times. However, I don’t have the best estimate of this factor so what I did was only considering the worst case scenario.
Maybe use a Watt meter?
I have a inverter refrigerator rated 100w, but it only consumes 32.4kwh a month and not 72kwh like in the computation. I guess calculator will still give you a rough idea or estimate.
Maybe incorporate a watt meter in the calculator in the input filed for a more accurate computation that will reflect on your family average usage of the appliance.
Typically fridge is given a total yearly consumption and class A medium size fridge it is around 180..220kWh depending on the size, use and environment.
220kWh divided by 365days is 0.6kWh/day / 24h is 25W/hour, a whole lot less than given 70W.
Fridge stand by time is more than 70%, a machine that runs continuously wear out happens lot sooner than the ones that stand still most of its time. I had many freezers and fridges that were 20 years old before were replaced so the wear is no issue.
And your claim that normal fridge wears out due to the constant start-stop events, how about machine that runs all the time… the same physical factors affect both machines, bearings, piston lubrication, valves and so on exist on both types.
Active user 1, you have a very good input. Thank you for sharing. The comparison here is focused only to the published specifications of the refs.
Well, after all that discussion you tell us about one important aspect of your calculations: “published specifications”. That’s really not enough to stress the intended comparison. It looks like feeding content to me, sadly speaking.