Is Your Fridge Running Like an Old Gas Guzzling Clunker?

Buying a commercial fridge is like buying a car.

There are 2 Costs in Buying a Car. So You Pay Twice

When you buy it... Then you have your ongoing running costs, fuel, maintenance just like your fridge... So a while back I use to own a 1979 XD Ford Falcon GL Sedan 4.9 Litre V8 3 Speed. I bought the XD Falcon because it was cheap to buy at the time. I hadn't made the connection to all the hidden costs at that time. So one Christmas holidays I drove The XD Falcon from Sydney to Brisbane to see my brother. So according to Tripadvisor Sydney to Brisbane is 950km & takes approx 12 hours to drive. A couple of years later I made the same trip in a Peugeot 308 2.0 litre 4 cylinder turbo-diesel 6 Speed. When you compare these trips, it highlights the ongoing running costs of theses cars & we can apply the same principles to our fridges. I'm sure some of you are wondering what does Car Fuel Economy has to do with your Fridge running costs. Just hang on for a bit and it will make more sense. Ok?

1979 XD Faclcon 4.9 ltre V8 Sedan

You could say the XD Falcon was thirsty. To be fair & transparent I looked at the original specs for the XD Falcon. Fuel consumption estimated 18.2 l/100km, which meant you need 18.2 litres of Petrol to drive 100km or if your old school that's 15.5 mpg Miles Per Gallon. The Fuel Tank holds 77 litres. For the Rev heads the XD Falcon's Power was 140kw at 4500rpm & it clocked 0-100 km/h in 8.6 seconds. (I'm sure for some this is fascinating) I can't ever say I got anywhere close to those numbers.

2008 Peugeot 308 2.0 litre 4 cylinder turbo-diesel

So here are Peugeot 308 Turbo specs. Fuel consumption estimated 6.8. l/100km, which meant you need 6.8 litres of Diesel to drive 100km or for the old school that's 41.54 Miles Per Gallon. The Fuel Tank holds 60 litres. Peugeot 308 Turbo doesn't have as much grunt as the Ford it's 110 kW, and it can only crack the 0-100 km/h in 10.5 Seconds. Driving in Sydney Traffics these acceleration numbers, don't mean much because it's not like you're not going get the chance anytime soon. As you see, there's significant difference between these numbers already. But does it really make a difference? We're going to base these calculations on the specs given for both cars as New. So these will be a little bit out because it assumes both cars were in perfect condition, without any wear n tear. But these numbers are as close we can get. So let's see how fuel costs of the XD Ford Falcon compares with the Peugeot 308 Turbo for the Sydney to Brisbane trip. So we don't get bogged down on the cost of fuel over the years. We'll use today's Fuel Price. I just checked at the servo Unleaded Petrol $1.343 per litre Diesel $1.277 per litre

Comparing the Fuel Costs Driving from Sydney to Brisbane in XD Falcon & 308 Peugeot

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1979 XD Ford Falcon GL Sedan 4.9 litre V8 3 Speed

2008 Peugeot 308 XTE 2.0 litre diesel HDi with 6 Speed "Tiptronic" gearbox

Sydney To Brisbane 950km 950km Fuel Consumption 18.2 l/100km 6.8 l/100km Fuel Tank 77 Litres 60 litres Fuel needed for trip 18.2 x 9.5 = 172.9 litres 6.8 x 9.5 = 64.6 litres No of Tanks needed for Trip 172.9 / 77 Litres = 2.245 Tanks (The tank holds 77 litres So I would of had to fill up 2.245 times) 64.6 / 60 Litres = 1.076 Tanks (The tank holds 60 litres So I would of had to fill up 1.076 times) Cost of Fuel **Unleaded Petrol $1.343 per litre ** Diesel $1.277 per litre Cost of Trip 172.9 litres X $1.343 = $232.20 64.6 litres X $1.277 = $82.49 — So driving the Falcon cost an extra $149.71 to drive to Brisbane than the Peugeot. Then I had to drive back, so it cost me another $149.71. So you can see these numbers made a big expensive difference. So with the XD Falcon, that's close to a whopping $300 extra, just in fuel than the 308 Peugeot. So if you have old inefficient fridge than your power bills are going to be like owning the old Falcon. And it get's worse, when you consider Highway travel use less fuel because you don't have to keep stopping in Traffic. Stopping in traffic has the same effect as continually opening your fridge door. It uses more power to keep your fridge cold. Imagine how much this is costing you over the life of your fridge. These Numbers get scary when we compare these Cars over a range of years. So according to Roy Morgan Reserach Australian's drive an average of 15,530km each per annum. In Sydney, they're spending 90 min to commute to work. I know I drive a lot more kms than this.

So how much would cost in fuel to drive these cars for a year.

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1979 XD Ford Falcon GL Sedan 4.9 litre V8 3 Speed

2008 Peugeot 308 XTE 2.0 litre diesel HDi with 6 Speed "Tiptronic" gearbox

Driving an average 15,530km 15,530km Fuel Consumption 18.2 l/100km 6.8 l/100km Fuel Tank 77 Litres 60 litres Fuel needed for trip 18.2 x 155.3 = 2,826.46 litres 6.8 x 155.3 = 1,056.04 litres No of Tanks needed for Trip 172.9 / 77 Litres = 2.245 Tanks (The tank holds 77 litres So I would of had to fill up 2.245 times) 2,826.46 / 77 Litres = 36.70 Tanks (The tank holds 77 litres So you would have to fill up 36.70 times over a year) Cost of Fuel **Unleaded Petrol $1.343 per litre ** Diesel $1.277 per litre Cost of fuel for year 2,826.46 litres X $1.343 = $3,795.93 1,056.04 litres X $1.277 = $1,348.56 Cost of fuel for 3 years $11,287.80 $4,045.68 Cost of fuel for 7 years $26,571.51 $9,439.92 — Which car would you perfer to drive around, the XD Falcon or the 308 Puegeot? So are your Fridges running cost like the 308 Puegeot or more like XD Falcon Clunker? How do you think your fridges compares?

Do you have a Gas Guzzling Clunker Fridge?

I think you can see how the cost of running Gas Guzzling Clunker car will empty your bank balance. It's same if you get stuck with a clunker of a fridge. Buying a cheap car can cost you a fortune just putting fuel in it. We haven't even got around to the ongoing maintenance cost yet. Tyres, Service, etc.

So buying a fridge is like buying a car

If You Think buying fridge is expensive, wait to see how much it costs to run your fridge for the next 7 years Here's the dark secret the fridges manufacturers don't want you to find out about.

The biggest cost of the Refrigerator is not buying it, but the Ongoing Running Costs.

Buying a cheap fridge in the long run, costs you a fortune because it just gobbles up heaps of power keeping your food cold. It's so easy to fall into the trap of going for the cheapest upfront cost. Have you ever stopped to consider how expensive your new fridge is going to cost you over the next 7 years to run? It's so easy to get seduced (sucked in) into the lowest price when you need new fridges. (without thinking of the real ongoing cost which could cripple your business.) Where all your really doing is emptying your bank accounts every week. Every time you have to pay extra on your power bill, that's more food you have to sell to cover that cost. When you save that money, you get to keep it. Fridges need ongoing maintenance just like your cars. Fridges chew a lot of power. Consume Energy. Fridge are expensive to run. Why pay more each week to run your old fridges. Is your fridge running like on old gas guzzling clunker? Unreliable always breaking down & your power bills are skyrocketing. That's what we call A Clunker. We realise driving a gas guzzling clunker going to cost you a fortune each time you fill up. Don't fall into this mistake with your fridges.

The amount of money you save on running your fridge you could get another fridge for free.

So let show how you could use your fridge's power savings to pay for next fridge. So how do you calculate How much your fridge is costing you to run? Remember the calculation for the Falcon. So driving your Falcon average 15,530km per year at 18.2 l/100km would 2,826.46 litres at $1.343 per litre so you would be paying $3,795.93 for years petrol. I'd like to say the formula for working the cost of running your fridge is simple to grasp like your Fuel Consumption for a car - xx l/100km x $1.343 per litre but it's not. So for Domestic Fridges, you can Calculate appliance running costs. On average you'd be paying 30 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh) "peak rate" electricity. 1kW = 1000 watts So all you need to do is find the input power the appliance uses in kilowatts (kW) The input power is usually marked on the appliance by a sticker. So my fridge consumes 414kW per year which is not really that useful because you would then need to take this yearly figure convert it to a daily amount of power then divide this by 24 hours. So my head is now spinning trying to work this out. It goes something like this: 414 / 365 / 24 x 30 cents per hour So my fridge is costing me 0.4 Cent per hour to run. Working out the energy efficiency of a Commercial fridge. It's similar pricncipe as your car only the maths is more complicated. This is where it starts to get confusing and complicated because Commercial Fridges calculation works on MEPS.

Minimum Energy Performance

MEPS (kWh/24h/m²) x your cost of Power, so let's again assume 30 cents per hour. So this where it gets tricky. So you need to find the how much power each Fridge needs kWh x square metre of the fridge. This where it get's hard because fridges are usually measured in Cubic metres, not Square metres. So you can go to this website Energy Rating - Commercial Refrigerators - MEPS Rating Good luck trolling through this site. Here's the problem, this is not compulsory. so not every Commercial Fridge Manufacturer has to add their data to this site. The Commercial Fridge companies don't make this easy because every commercial fridge manufacturers has a different way of presenting their power usage. If we were talking domestic fridges they are regulated. They have to show the energy rating, unfortunately, this does not apply to commercial fridges. So most commercial Fridges companies only show these numbers if it makes them look good. So they are only giving you half the info you need to work out these calculations. It's not like your going to buy a fridge, which says: "I'm cheap, but I'm going to cost you a fortune to run." They don't want you to know the actual ongoing running costs. If you get a domestic fridge, it has to have the Energy Star rating to show how energy efficient it is. So you see how expensive it is to run. This does not apply to commercial fridges. Not sure why. I guess it easier to warn & protect the Mums & dads, rather the Mums & Dad Businesses. I guess it simpler to police & looks better. Looking after mums than dads rather than their businesses. At home, you have 1 or maybe 2 fridges. We tend to be more mindful of trying to save or reduce our power bills at home. In our business it just an expense, most of us neglect because we're too busy making food & managing our cafes or restaurants. Most Commercial kitchens have more than 1 fridge. So rather than trying to decipher MEPS (kWh/24h/m²) x your cost of Power. It's a lot easier to get fuel Consumption cars, than energy consumption of a commercial fridge It's just not that easy for Commercial fridges. So let's compare the Skope Fridges because they are happy to share the fridge power data. So let take the published data for Skope TME1000H Fridge & compare with New TME1000A Display Fridges. Skope Fridges have been known for being energy Efficient. Last year Skope introduced the new Skope Activecore Fridges

SKOPE TME1000-A Active Core 2 Door White Display Fridge

The Running Costs of the Skope TME1000 Display Fridge Range

The Skope TME1000H costs $1125.00 Annual Running Costs... The Skope TME1000A Activecore costs $509.00 Annual Running Costs and uses 55% less energy than old model... Based on 30 cents per kW Calculated using 4.55 kWh/24h So that's a saving of $616.00 or 55% Let's look at Skope Activecore fridges The Skope TME1000A sells for $4,108.00 + GST you get at SCK for $3,302.00 + GST So in just 5 years and 3 months, the money you saved on the running costs Skope TME1000A would have paid for your next fridge. So if you Bought a Skope TME-1000A ActiveCore rather than cheap power hungry Clunker Fridge, then the money you saved from lower electricity cost you can get yourself another ActiveCore fridge for Free. So why not run your restaurant like the large corporations do. So they would rather focus Total Cost of Ownership (Onging running cost) than the initial cost to buy any plant or machinery. So it just makes commercial sense to invest in The Skope TME1000A Activecore Fridge. It's it time you replaced your Gas Guzzling Clunkers and get Fridge that will save you heaps of money. So if you think its time to upgrade your Gas Guzzling Clunker Fridge then you should be checking out Skope Activecore Fridges. So check out Skope Activecore Fridges

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