EdgeStar CRF321SS Mini Fridge review!

After doing a casual review on the EdgeStar CRF321SS 3.1 Cu. Ft. mini fridge with freezer, I decided to get some hard data for anyone who might be thinking to plunk down the money to purchase one. So, here is some of the data I gathered....

EL USB 2 sensor

Observation dates: October 24-26, 2017

Ambient room temperature ~ 76 - 80ºF.

Sensor: EL USB-2

Power use: Kill A Watt Electricity Usage Monitor

Kill A Watt

For the period of the experiment (18 hours for the Freezer), I accumulated the following information:

Freezer data

FREEZER: I placed the USB sensor into the freezer at 3:20 PM CST and got the following readings. Note that while this was not a true scientific styled test, I do feel it did represent the kind of performance that customers could expect.... That said, I did take note that the average temperature was 7.5 degrees Fahrenheit. That was above the recommended setting of 0 degrees, but since I rarely keep foods frozen for very long, it was not a big concern for me... Update: Here was the result (the next graph was after a minor setting adjustment):

 REFRIGERATOR: After measuring the data for the freezer, I then placed the sensor in about the middle area of the refrigerator and recorded for 24 hours. Unlike the freezer, which was not opened during the period of measurement taking, I did open the refrigerator fairly often to retrieve food and beverages. Hey, I'm a thirsty sort of guy!

I was somewhat surprised to see the average temperature of 44.5F! But, I was also not too concerned as I use this fridge to cool bottles of water, V8 and Dole peach cups! Having said that, I did up the cooling dial a bit. It had been centered on medium cool in the past. After doing that and remeasuring, I got this data report:

The power used, over a 24 hour period was up to .44 kWh's! Not bad!

POWER USE: After the 24 hours testing period had elapsed, I had recorded power usage at a total of 0.40 kWh's. That averages out to about .0167 kW's per hour for an estimated cost of .002 cents. (I was using using the .13006 rate that Empire Electric charges for electricity, where I live in southwest Missouri). Doing the math, I would expect the monthly cost for this Energy Star appliance to be at about $1.56! Not too shabby!

NOISE LEVELS: Finally, I used a sound app to get an idea of the decibel level of this unit when it was running. It turned out that I got about 28 decibels, or the sound level that rustling leaves would make! Not bad....

BOTTOM LINE: Since June 2017, when I purchased this unit, I've been extremely happy! www.taneyweather.com

My heating bills are driving me batty!

This chart nicely translates into the approx costs per month

Starting with this past December, my electric bills have skyrocketed compared to what they were in the past! It's been three winter seasons since I've seen heating bills this high. Part of the reason for the increase have been the progressive rate hikes by the local electric cooperative aka Empire Electric. My rates have seen something like a 24% increase in the electric rates since 2010. As a result, I've suffered back to back bills that were well over $200 and fully expect the same treatment after February when all said and done.

February, which just got started as of this post, could well be a record breaker in terms of cold temperatures. As of the 3^rd, my location in Forsyth MO is ten degrees below average and we have five more days that will struggle to see the twenty degree mark for a high!

So, in an effort to reduce my overall bill for February, I plan to recuse myself to my bedroom while setting the whole house temperature setting back to 66F during the daytime hours. I have a small space heater and a humidifier running 24/7 to help keep conditions livable.