Comments on: Set Your Refrigerator to the Warmest Setting (26/365)

By: Gretchen

Gretchen — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 19:28:28 +0000

annnd we are back with this terrible series.

DrFunZ, I quote: “Another useful tactic is to thaw frozen foods in the fridge instead of on the counter.”

By: AmyG

AmyG — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 16:48:59 +0000

#5 Lilly – You took the words right out of my mouth. Really?? This post is all about saving $10 a year in refrigerator energy costs at the risk of food spoilage? If you keep your refrigerator at 39 degrees and open it several times each day…do you really think your food is going be maintained in the safe range? Sorry, but as this series progresses, I am losing faith in Trent’s advice faster than I can turn my fridge’s thermostat up to 40 degrees.

By: valleycat1

valleycat1 — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 15:54:39 +0000

#37 DrFunZ – Can’t wait for Trent’s post detailing the exact percent of a degree change that a thawing casserole has on an air conditioned room vs. a heated room. I don’t remember ever walking past a thawing item on the counter & noticing any change in temp, much less enough change that it would impact how often the ac or heater runs.

By: DrFunZ

DrFunZ — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 14:03:30 +0000

Trent did not suggest that you thaw food on the counter. He is correct about the fact that any cold thing you put into your environment will have an impact on your heating, thermodynamically speaking. I do not see his condemning the frozen chicken for cooling the kitchen as a ringing endorsement for thawing it on the counter.

The problem I have with this article is that it describes fairly insignificant savings in a potentially risky area.

By: Chris

Chris — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 13:33:40 +0000

I’m not going to risk food potentially spoiling to save $10 per year. This is a little over the top.

By: Jules

Jules — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 07:42:45 +0000

Anything between 32 and 39 F is fine for food. We store sensitive lab “biologicals” at 39 F (4 C) and it lasts for quite a long time. Spoilage is going to come mostly from the yeasts and molds in the air, anyway, and there’s nothing you can do about it except to store your food properly, and to reheat it hot enough to kill everything. And, of course, eat it within a certain amount of time.

Bacteria do not grow well at room temperature, and in refrigerators they enter a state of “hibernation”. They grow, but VERY slowly (if at all–I’ve had petri dishes of E. coli in the refrigerator for up to a month, and those colonies never changed). Food handling techniques and proper food safety procedures will go a far longer way towards keeping your food safe than yelling at Trent.

By: Vanessa

Vanessa — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 03:16:44 +0000

Trent drinks sun tea. I don’t think bacteria scare him very much.

By: Robin S

Robin S — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 03:02:38 +0000

Reading these posts are starting to cost me more in opportunity cost than any amount they could possibly save me if I did the things you suggest.

By: Riki

Riki — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 02:36:57 +0000

I’m generally not one to go crazy worry about germs, but 39 degrees F is too close to comfy temperatures for bacteria for even my liking.

This is terrible, terrible advice. And it’s so difficult to measure I’d venture it’s probably pointless anyway.

Trent, don’t tell people to mess with food safety just to save money.

By: Mister E

Mister E — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 02:23:49 +0000

Oh for heaven’s sake I just read the line about thawing food at room temperature.

Someone PUBLISHED this nonsense?

By: Other Jonathan

Other Jonathan — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 02:04:32 +0000

I’m surprised nobody has mentioned keeping drinks cold – soda in particular. The difference between enjoying soda and not, for me, is that last few degrees before it gets slushy. And as a few have mentioned, I suspect that generally the amount of time the door spends open has a FAR greater impact on your electric bill over time than the temperature setting.

By: Izabelle

Izabelle — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 01:38:23 +0000

And the savings for the heating system switch from oil to electricity (once all was paid) is to the order of 3000-3500$ per year for a medium-size detached house. To give an idea of climate, we are about 1 hour north of the Vermont border (so pretty cold). Definitely our strongest saving strategy so far :)

By: Izabelle

Izabelle — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 01:33:04 +0000

Oops, the 30 kW/h limit mentioned above is per day.

By: Izabelle

Izabelle — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 01:30:43 +0000

I pay around 5.4 cents for the first 30 kWh and 7.5 cents for anything above in the same month, but the climate here is very cold so a LOT goes to heating. Still 50$ is less than 4% of my yearly bill, hence my comment.

The best energy-saving tip I have is to make sure your heating system is up to date. We changed ours 3 years ago, and the reduction in heating costs paid for the switch in 2 years. Anything after that is money in the bank!

By: Lindsey

Lindsey — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 01:17:07 +0000

#13 1 kWh is 8-9 cents right now. I live roughly 30 miles from Trent.

This series seems to really go to the extremes. Some ideas are good, some are good but I’ll never do, and some are just…extreme. Power to the frugalites who can stand to live that extreme by choice! (I know, some people have to go to extremes at times, and that is perfectly fine.)

On another note, my advice if you try this tip is to make sure you have a decent fridge to begin with… Has anyone had trouble with Magic Chef fridges freezing AND keeping food too warm…at the same time? I’ve had experience with 3-4 of the stupid things and all of them have had the same problem. It’s much worse in the summertime, and even the brand new fridge did the same thing! Can’t wait until I’ve saved up enough to purchase a new, non-magic chef fridge…

By: Jenny

Jenny — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 01:08:09 +0000

I think you’ve missed the biggest energy saver with your fridge – keeping the door closed as much as possible. When you open the door a bunch of the cold air rushes out (worse for freezer on the bottom models) and the fridge has to use extra energy to cool itself again.

Know what you want before you open the door. Don’t just stand there and think about what you might want. It can help to have a list on the outside of the door (a whiteboard is good for this) of what foods you have in there. You don’t open your front door in winter and stand there letting cold air in while you decide where to go.

Have all the cold ingredients you need for a meal in your mind before you reach in there, then get them all out at once and close the door.

By: brandy

brandy — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 00:59:52 +0000

we keep our refrigerator in our new apartment quite cold. Not cold enough for anything to freeze. We have noticed a HUGE increase in the life of our food. Milk stays fresh a WEEK longer. Everything just lasts and lasts and lasts. Plus all our drinks are nice and icy.

By: kevin

kevin — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 00:35:33 +0000

@15 Andrea – I don’t think Trent heats his house so he could probably just keep the food inside.

By: valleycat1

valleycat1 — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 23:54:31 +0000

Maybe he’s yanking our chains so they can build that new house sooner rather than later?

By: valleycat1

valleycat1 — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 23:53:44 +0000

#20 liz – I had just scanned the article & read the highlighted sentences. I’m flabbergasted that even Trent would discuss the impact of thawing food on the room temperature. Now this series really is getting ridiculous. Better not eat warm food in the summer or anything cool in the winter if you’re really serious about living cheap.