Hey Mr. Green, 

Q: When should an old-but-working refrigerator be replaced with a new Energy Star-certified one? I think my library may have energy meters available to borrow. 

—Jackie in Leadville, Colorado 

One of the great accomplishments of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)—which may now be as endangered as the species it has helped save from extinction—has been to require huge improvements in energy efficiency. Although there are millions more refrigerators than in the 1980s, collectively they consume far less total energy. But there are still way too many clunkers out there. Out of the estimated 170 million refrigerators currently in use, 60 million are over 10 years old. Compared with new fridges, the electricity to power those 60 million costs a cool $4.4 billion a year, or a bit more than half the EPA’s entire annual budget. 

If you know how old the fridge is, you might not need to use the meter. Here’s a brief history of the power gobbled up by an average-size refrigerator over the years: 

1990  1,000 kilowatt hours per year
1993     700 kWh per year
2001     490  kWh per year
2017     360 kWh per year 

If you do use a meter, and it tells you a fridge exceeds two or three kilowatt-hours a day, you should probably euthanize the old beast. It could be costing anywhere from $100 to $200 a year just to stay on life support, depending on local utility rates. Sure, I know, some guys fondly regard an old cooler in the garage as an emblem of game-day hospitality. But they’d have more cash for beverages if they didn’t waste hard-earned dollars running those antiques. 

If you doubt this, see the EPA calculator that shows how much money a new refrigerator can save. Act now, before this useful tool gets axed by the Trump administration. Of course a small refrigerator with fewer bells and whistles is usually the best buy. Do I really need a fridge the size of an army tank with an app that can ask, in 100 languages, from anywhere on the planet, how many ice cubes I want in a glass?