Optimize the fridge

General
#1

Hi!

We recently bought a smart fridge. I always was wondering why a fridge might need WLAN. Now, I have the idea to use its API to optimize the temperatures. I read a few articles about a people who switch off their fridge during night (using a Shelly Plug). I do not want to switch off my fridge, I want to play with the temperatures:
During the day, I want to make the fridge cooler while during night, it can be slightly warmer. For two reasons:

  1. During day, the fridge doors are opened and closed frequently. The cool air is lost and the fridge has to cool it down again, using electricity. During night (midnight to 5am), the doors are kept closed. Cool temperatures will remain.
  2. During the day, there is solar power available. During night, there is none (only from battery). So, it might slightly relax the grid power consumption.

I know, it is not a big measure, but it is an optimization. Saving 10ct per day might sum up in a year…

Any experiences available?
Is that stressing the fridge’s mechanics unnecessarily?

#2

Hi @solar_tweaker,

The following is just my opinion so take it for what it’s worth.

One of the principal purposes of a refrigerator / freezer is to extend the life of perishable food. According to the published guidelines on the website of my local ( state ) Department of Health the refrigerator compartment should be set to keep the temperature to less than 5C.

I would imagine that a reputable brand of refrigerator would do its best to maintain the set temperature. Not withstanding the number of times the door is opened and closed. Certainly too the refrigerator will have an easier time if it is not too empty. A higher thermal mass of goods inside the fridge should (?) lead to a more stable temperature than a near empty fridge. Of course a fridge that is too full or badly iced up will have its own problems.

So the these reasons I wouldn’t bother altering the duty cycle of the fridge. Worse still you may wind up inserting an additional mode of failure ( a bug ) whereby the fridge doesn’t run for an extended period of time potentially spoiling its contents. The cost of the spoilt food could be far greater than any potential savings.

It would be an interesting exercise to monitor the energy consumption of the fridge vs temperature to test your thesis.

On the other hand heating water using electricity generated from solar panels during the day makes sense - a storage HWS. There also exist guidelines for the temperature of water in a HWS to mitigate against the breeding of nasty bacteria. So the under heating water for an extended time could also be an issue depending on your local water quality.

My 2 cents.

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