Connected home refrigerators - are we excited?

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Bill Smith on January 25, 2013 at 10:10am

Count me as a bit skeptical at this point. Will it be useful or just intrusive? For demand response I doubt that refrigerators are enough of a target to be worthwhile for most utilities. Perhaps if combined with AC or DHW there might be enough load shedding to be of use. But given that it will be many years before there are significant numbers in use I'm not excited.

There was the one at CES that kept track of when you need beer. THAT could be useful :-)

Permalink Reply by David Meiland on January 25, 2013 at 12:20pm

Personally, I wish my refrigerator had energy use information on the display. Seems like it would be a cheap and easy add for the manufacturer, and it could alert me if there's an issue and energy use goes up above normal. So many cars and other devices have this sort of on-board diagnostic.

Bill, this is the one you want: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36pr0t7hntI

Permalink Reply by Bill Smith on January 25, 2013 at 1:14pm

Wow, I'd forgotten about that. Combine that with this: http://ces.cnet.com/1606-34441_1-50138471.html. and you have really improved my life! If automatic beer deliveries could be included we are approaching perfection.

Permalink Reply by Bob Blanchette on February 21, 2013 at 6:40pm

Our utility is already doing this with Air Conditioners and the Smarthours VPP program. Connectivity could be useful with refrigerators, but they represent such a low part of the load during times of high demand. 4000 watt Water heaters, and 3000 watt Pool pumps are other high demand devices that are WAY more of a factor than a 200W refrigerator. Hit the low hanging fruit first...

Permalink Reply by tedkidd on February 28, 2013 at 8:26am

Personally, I wish my refrigerator had energy use information on the display.

And calendar, and tasks, and grocery lists, I think connectivity will be really nice.  Brave New World.  

But at total energy cost of $40 a year, they'll have to shut defrost on a WHOLE LOT of 'em to help avoid brownouts!  

Permalink Reply by Curt Kinder on February 28, 2013 at 7:43pm

I'm not real jazzed about my fridge talking to anyone. I don't need it to display anything other than fridge and freezer box temperatures.

That said, Ted and Bob may be oversimplifying - though a typical fridge compressor uses 100-200 Watts, defrost and ice harvester trigger resistance heating elements that use a good deal more, 400-600 Watts. Whether those loads are worth choking off during utility peaks is open to question.

Permalink Reply by Barbara Smith on March 22, 2013 at 9:16am

Refrigerators were determined to contribute the most to the capacity for energy storage, among residential "thermostatically controlled loads" -- such as AC, electric water heaters, and refrigerators.  In CA, the capacity for energy storage from all these residential electric loads was estimated at 8-11 GWh.

 

This is discussed in the paper entitled "Using Residential Electric Loads for Fast Demand Response:  The Potential Resources and Revenues, the Costs, and Policy Recommendations" by Johanna L. Mathieu, Mark Dyson, and Duncan S. Callaway of UC Berkeley, here:

http://www.aceee.org/files/proceedings/2012/start.htm