£25 fridge gadget that could slash greenhouse emissions

[greenman3610]

http://environment.guardian.co.uk/print/0,,329748836-121568,00.html

It is made of wax, is barely three inches across and comes in any colour you like, as long as it's black. And it could save more greenhouse gas emissions than taxes on gas guzzling cars, low energy light bulbs and wind turbines on houses combined. It is the e-cube, and it is coming soon to a fridge near you.
Invented by British engineers, the £25 gadget significantly reduces the amount of energy used by fridges and freezers, which are estimated to consume about a fifth of all domestic electricity in the UK. If one was fitted to each of the 87 million refrigeration units in Britain, carbon dioxide emissions would fall by more than 2 million tonnes a year.

The patented cube mimics food and is designed to fit around a fridge's temperature sensor, which usually measures the temperature of the circulating air.

Because air heats up much more quickly than yoghurt, milk or whatever else is stored inside, this makes the fridge work harder than necessary. With the cube fitted, the fridge responds only to the temperature of the food, which means it clicks on and off less often as the door is open and closed.

[wake.up.america]

1. Thank you. Perhaps I can make use of this.

[sutz12]

2. Wow....sounds good.

:thumbsup:

[blondeatlast]

3. I want one! Not yet available for purchase apparently (I checked the website).

Keep us posted. This is a dandy idea and if it generates enough interest, maybe fridge mfg. will incorporate it into their products.

[Pacifist Patriot]

5. I'd like to know the instant its available as well!

[Kurovski]

46. Same here!

GIMMEGIMMEGIMME! :-)

My fridge is a 20 year-old monster and eats more than I do.

[Canuckistanian]

4. Refrigerator design is a pet peeve of mine

Think about it. You have this small chamber that chills air. And yet, merely by opening it, a great deal of that chilled air spills out of the bottom and warm room air is let in. And the chilling cycle starts again. The inefficiency is inherent.

I saw a brilliant design for a fridge once that had a wire frame that rose vertically, allowing you to choose what you wanted, then you push the frame back down into the chilling chamber. Sort of like a top loading chest freezer. The cold air stays in because it's contained.

Here's someone who has the right idea:

Man Retrofits Freezer to Make an Ultra-Efficient Fridge
by Justin Thomas
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2005/07/man_retrofits_f.php

An off-grid experimenter in Australia, Tom Chalko, has retrofitted a chest freezer to create a fridge that uses only 100 watt-hours (0.1 kWh) per day! Why a chest freezer? Tom points out that vertical door refrigerators are inherently inefficient. As soon as you open a vertical fridge door the cold air escapes, simply because it is heavier than the warmer air in the room. When you open a chest freezer, the cool air stays inside, just because it’s heavy. Any leak or wear in a vertical door seal causes significant loss of efficiency.

Tom took a standard chest freezer (a Vestfrost SE255), added a $40 external thermostat, then wired the freezer to turn off when the desired temperature was reached. The thermostat runs on 2 AAA batteries which last for months. The freezer runs for about 90 seconds per hour and then shuts down completely, making it not only very efficient but very quiet.

Full article:
http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects/Conservation/chest_fridge.pdf

[Blackhatjack]

6. You have to ask "Why?" has this not been offered to the public?

Simple design. Obviously more energy efficient than anything we have on the market today. Good for the environment.

What could the possible motivation be for a refrigerator manufacturer NOT to offer this product today?

It is a matter of 'taste' among American consumers. There are plenty of us who would choose this product over others currently available.

[AikidoSoul]

13. Most companies that make ACs, refrigerators, etc.

don't want to meet high efficiency standards.

Westinghouse? General Electric? Aren't these companies deeply vested in also producing electricity and therefore profit when more is used?

[ArbustoBuster]

45. I can see one small problem with it.

It wouldn't fit in a lot of kitchens. Kitchens have been designed for years with upright refrigerators in mind. The chest-style fridge wouldn't fit in my small kitchen at all, since I basically have space for an upright fridge and nothing else. I would have to take out the stove to fit a chest-style fridge. :)

[druidity33]

47. bad for your back?

Maybe if the thing were see-through as well. Or had one side door too, ice-cream truck style. But in my experience, chest freezers are hell on your back and awkward for storage. I'd love to see a product that is this efficient, but also ergonomic. I believe they call that eco-effective now. A term coined by William McDounough and Braungart in their book Cradle to Cradle...

[AndyTiedye]

30. Have To Dig Through Several Layers to Find What You're Looking For

Chest-style means most of your food is buried several layers down.

Finding the item you are looking for can resemble an archelogical dig.

How much of that great efficiency do you lose by having to take a bunch of stuff out every time?

[kineneb]

42. so?

Hubby thinks anything that is not right out in front of the fridge shelves doesn't exist. Humph. I told him if he had been Christopher Columbus he would still be looking for his ships. Upright or horizontal fridge, he still would be lost.

[Canuckistanian]

44. Right. But as i said, I saw a design that solved that problem.

It was a round "rack" that lifted out of a low built-in fridge. It could even be turned around for fast retrieval of what you wanted.

[Buzz Clik]

7. I'm skeptical.

True, air heats up faster than food, but it also cools down faster.

Current scenario: You open the fridge and stand there browsing for something to destroy your South Beach diet. The air in the fridge heats up, and the fridge kicks on. You grab the left over pork chop, close the door, and walk away. Three minutes later, the air inside the fridge is cool again, and the unit kicks off.

With the new gizmo: The unit doesn't kick on until the third time you show up. Now, not only has the air heated up, so has the milk, the cheese, and last week's pizza. So, instead of running for three minutes, it runs for 9 minutes because all this stuff takes a while to cool down.

Net savings from the gizmo? Dunno. Let's see the data.

I'm also worried about this: I don't want my milk being heated up 5 degrees before the fridge kicks on. I have the fridge set to 40 degrees F because that's the temp that preserves milk the best -- not 45 degrees.

[tuvor]

8. You asked about seeing net savings data

The article mentions the Riverbank Park Plaza hotel in London saving £17,000 annually.

[Buzz Clik]

16. Yeah, well... tales can be told.

I mean something like Consumer Reports.

[tuvor]

24. What's wrong with the Guardian?

I thought they were pretty reliable.

[Buzz Clik]

25. The Guardian reports.

Consumer Reports does testing.

[tuvor]

27. Whatever works for you.

Hearing from a reliable source that a hotel saw an annual savings of some $35,000 worked for me.

To each his own, eh?

[Buzz Clik]

28. After you buy one, tell me how it works out.

[tuvor]

29. Well, I've just emailed my Member of Parliament about the devices.

If they're ever available for purchase in Canada, I'll give it a shot.

[wuushew]

9. Except that when motors start they draw a huge amount of current

that is why air conditioners draw so many amps when they first start up, the resistance is massive in a motor that is not rotating.

This device cuts the number of starts which invariably cuts total energy usage even if you are running the compressor longer.

[Buzz Clik]

17. No doubt that adds in.

So, you need to make sure that the temperature tolerance of the device is set to minimize the number of times it turns on -- as in, the fridge needs to warm up a bit more before the compresser kicks on again. (This probably could be accomplished by putting a delay on the compressor in a normal fridge -- have the fan turn on for a minute to equilibrate; if the temp is still high, the compressor turns on.)

I wouldn't want my food warming more than a degree or two before the fridge started its cooling cycle again.

[Canuckistanian]

10. Here are some numbers.

Holiday Inn Regents Park

Make: Fosters
Model: PMC4
kWh used without eCube:145.5
kWh used with eCube: 80.93
kWh weekly saving: 64.57

" I am very pleased to let you know that after calculating the kWh saving after fitting the eCube we achieved remarkable results. We were able to monitor food temperature during the trial which was not affected by the eCube managing the thermostat. We were very surprised that we could calculate an annual saving of £271.50 on just one unit."

Assistant Chief Engineer, Holiday Inn Regents Park

[tuvor]

11. Where's that information from?

A link would be appreciated.

[Canuckistanian]

20. Here you are

http://www.ecubedistribution.com/

Click on the "Product Trials" link.

[tuvor]

23. Thanks!

:hi:

[Buzz Clik]

19. Yes, that's from the website.

Assuming that it's all up and up, it sounds promising.

[Gold Metal Flake]

12. Where is your data?

I want to see what the thermocouples placed on various food and beverage items say. Did you observe a 5 degree shift in your milk as a result of repeated browsing? Was your "current scenario" the result of testing? What about your "new gizmo" scenario?

[Buzz Clik]

22. LOL! I'm not selling this thing. Providing data is not up to me.

The basic premise is reasonable, and IF the claims are true, this will be a great idea. One of those concepts like delayed windshield wipers that makes you wonder what took them so long to figure it out.

Regardless, a request for sound, independent data is hardly deserving of scorn.

I think I remember once where the claims made by a salesman for a new item were not true... :eyes:

[Gold Metal Flake]

31. You are so quick to present "data" as to why it won't work.

Not surprisingly, your arguements were pulled from a dark and maloderous place.

I place scorn not on "a request for sound, independent data", but rather on an attack based on pure assumption tarted up with psuedo-technical blather. :eyes:

[Buzz Clik]

33. Data? I presented data? No.

But, it's clear that you simply are looking for an argument. Look somewhere else.

Buy this thing, my friend. Buy ten. Buy one for everyone you know.

You will, without question, be saving the earth.

[Gold Metal Flake]

38. I was unable to read all of the false choices presented in your last reply...

..due to an attack of hay fever brought on by the army of strawmen you presented in your reply #7.

[lisa58]

14. Cool, where can I get one...

... two?

[AikidoSoul]

15. This is an interesting idea and it makes sense

Cooling and measuring the temperature of the food which has mass -- and holds the chill -- unlike the air which changes temp very rapidly.

USA uses a 110-volt electricity system whilst mainland Europe and the UK use a 240-volt system.

Can this item be used here in the US?

[karlrschneider]

36. It isn't an electrical device...the voltage doesn't matter.

:-)

[lonestarnot]

18. Sounds good.

Does it do anything to the frigee besides trick it?

[karlrschneider]

21. I can accomplish the same thing with 5 cents worth of putty.

...

[Blackhatjack]

26. Please explain how... n/t

[karlrschneider]

34. Sure!

:D

The goal is to reduce the hysteresis (response time) of the thermostat sensor and increase its thermal inertia.
You can mold a chunk of putty (for example) around the end of the capillary tube that feeds the thermostat
switch. It will "hold the cold", so to speak so it doesn't heat or cool so quickly - which is basically what that
little black box is doing.

[Canuckistanian]

39. I think finding the right thermal mass would be tricky

Probably a lot of trial and error and experimentation with different materials.

[karlrschneider]

41. Probably would be without some instrumentation,

A watt-hour meter and a recording thermograph would help a lot. :D

I'd think a blob around half the size of an egg would be a good starting point.

[razors edge]

40. Thats it

in a nutshell. Longer dead-band.

[Tesha]

32. What thermostat where?

I'm pretty sure of two things:

o This doesn't go anywhere near the blue LEDs on my fridge
that say "40" and "0" degrees, nor the push-buttons that
change those numbers, and

o The microprocessor that controls those numbers (and the
compressor and all the various vents and other functions
in my 'fridge) probably already "knows" all the tricks
about when it should run vis-a-vis openings of the door
and the like.

Yeah, this might have worked on the old 1950s fridge with
the mechanical thermostat dial, but we're so far past that
now that this just sounds silly.

Tesha

[karlrschneider]

35. Well, regardless of what the system is, there has to be a temp sensor -somewhere-

in the box (although there may be some that aren't accessible nowadays - possibly somewhere inside the air
recirculating ducts)

And now you've piqued my curiosity...I wonder if the processor really does keep track of door openings. Interesting question. ;-)

[Tesha]

37. Welll....

> And now you've piqued my curiosity...I wonder if the processor
> really does keep track of door openings. Interesting question.

Given that this fridge sets off an alarm if the door is open
or ajar for too long, I'll bet it does (keep track). ;)

And we've never observed the usual "open door, hear fridge
click on fifteen seconds later" phenomenon. I have complete
confidence that it's already implementing the strategy that
the wax box tries to implement.

Tesha

[karlrschneider]

43. I suspect you're right. for sure it SHOULD for how much the damn things cost!

:D

But I shouldn't complain, one of our friends gave us a nearly brand new side-by-side with all the bells & whistles a few months ago, he thought it was fried and his wife wanted a bigger one anyway. I found it just had a loose connector
to the control panel - plugged it back together and it works perfectly.