Curing fridge running costs

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Curing fridge running costs

Postby SteveW » Sat Feb 02, 2013 4:12 pm

Hey all,
Has anyone worked out the running costs of their curing fridge? I don't mean the set up costs but actual day to day running. Or is it dependant on size? I'm trying to convince myself not to start long term dry curing as I don't think I'd have the patience/money. When I first came to this site I was just making a bit of smoked salmon now and then, I thought I could handle it but then I got into bacon, then sausages, so it seems to be a downwards spiral into meat addiction. So, if you're Bresola works out at £150 per kg please let me know
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Postby Oddwookiee » Sat Feb 02, 2013 5:07 pm

I've been kicking this idea around for a while, trying to work out numbers. I would imagine that it would be dependent on the unit. Look on the mfg plate on the unit and see it's power usage, then how much you pay for power by the kw/hr and convert it that way. For a sealed unit, loaded not empty, in a constant temperature room, it can't be very much to run it.
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Postby Snags » Sun Feb 03, 2013 1:19 am

As the motor isnt working anywhere near as hard as if it was running as an actual fridge I would imagine the price would be minmal.

Average fridge costs roughly $200 a year to run in Australia (very average figures)
Thats trying to maintain a cold temp in a warmish climate with the door being constantly opened and closed.
check this out
http://www.mnn.com/green-tech/gadgets-e ... -no-energy

...energy downside may be the cost of extra fans and humidifiers.
yet to take the plunge still researching
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Postby Banjoe » Sun Feb 03, 2013 6:31 pm

The operating cost could depend on where your curing fridge is located.

If it's in the house, the heat rejected reduces your winter heating costs so it's not lost energy. In the summer, the heat adds to any air conditioning load.

If your fridge is in an out building then you need to figure out if you're getting benefit of the rejected heat in the winter. If you don't need the heat, then the costs are all lost to the environment.

Operating power is noted on the nameplate so should be easy to figure. The challenge is the operating time. A normal house fridge could be using $200 a year but that cost comes from all the opening and closing, as well as the emptying out and refilling with nice warm goods. Huge loads just with the opening & closing & added humidity loads. Adding hundreds of pounds of warm goods is the other major loading on house fridges.

Your curing fridge loading will depend on its environment, the number of times you open and close the door to check things out, and the number of times your turn over the product with new projects.

Not a simple answer but, if you go through all the effort, I think you'll find it's costing in the area of a $1 a week while it's running and is more than worth the investment for the great results you're getting at the end of each run.
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Postby SteveW » Sun Feb 03, 2013 7:38 pm

Thanks for the replies guys.
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Postby onewheeler » Tue Feb 05, 2013 6:24 pm

I've just checked mine for the past 24 h. Average consumption was 15 W. Now, this might not be representative: the 'fridge is in the garage, and it's cold out there (not much over freezing). The majority of that power consumption is the heater (about 8 W, used to raise the temperature to kick the compressor in occasionally and to keep it near the set point of 10 C), the 25 mm fan and the controller. I guess the compressor has only run for a few minutes a few times in that period.

This is for a 1500 mm x 600 mm 'fridge.

On our power tariff, that's cost less than 5 p.

Martin/
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