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MeshColour t1_iu6b2ua wrote

Reply to comment by alienman82 in This GE antique is back to normal after I cleaned the coil yesterday by novajia

There is an era where insulation sucked (70s?). Then the early models with auto-defrost and any models with door ice dispensers

But if the insulation (the wall thickness) looks modern and no door ice dispenser, yeah it's likely just as efficient as modern fridges

But it's good to check the power usage on all fridges. The ways they break can cause significant power usage, I've heard of people detecting a failed fridge before losing food by seeing it was constantly using way more power (defroster can get stuck on, thermostat can get stuck on, etc)

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F-21 t1_iu7v7st wrote

It's usually the freezer which hogs power. The fridge part by itself is usually very comparable to modern ones...

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H0ss1 t1_iu9f4kc wrote

> early models with auto-defrost and any models with door ice dispensers

I have one of these offenders. I cut the wires to the "always on" condensation heater and plugged the ice chute. I currently use a system to skip usually every other defrost cycle, but there is a permanent fix using a rheostat from those old halogen floor lamps to vary the power to the heating element itself (half is good starting point from what I hear).

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