Saving Energy the Old Fashioned Way

With all the technology there is today to produce electricity from Nuclear power plants to alternate sources like Sun, Wind, Plants, Water and Algae, as well as the various technologies to help us use less electricity. We sometimes will overlook the simple and effective ways to save energy and money.

 This weekend, while helping to watch my granddaughter, I undertook cleaning the refrigerator. Not the inside, although it can use it, but the underneath. The forgotten zone.

This area has the fan, drip pan and condenser coils that help the refrigerator through cooling it down and helping it run more efficiently.

 The underneath was like looking into one of those crypts in the horror movies. It was full of dust and dirt resembling cobwebs, but 10 times as thick. Among the fuzz hanging from the coils was a few magnetic numbers and letters that had been knocked off the refrigerator door and slipped underneath by my granddaughter. Along with these were the usual assortment of insects both live and dead and even few unrecognizable objects.

 Breaking out the vacuum to quickly suck up everything, I soon realized that this part of the refrigerator was designed by someone that never would have to clean it. There were three sets of coils arranged from front to back and only the front of the first set was easy to reach. Armed with the longest tube for the vacuum and an old toothbrush, I jumped right in. It was amazing just how much can accumulate over time.

Before starting, I could feel all the heat coming of the coils wrapped by the dust. By the time I had finished they were much cooler, definitely cleaner and I probably extended the life of the refrigerator by at least a few years. This would allow it to operate more efficiently and saving me money to boot.

A project like this can be done quickly, if you are prepared for it with a good long vacuum nozzle, a long brush that is designed for cleaning the coils, some rags to clean the floor (it will probably need it) and the will to save some money.

So don't feel like you need to generate more electricity or go out and buy some energy efficient light bulb or gadget. These are all fine ways to save you money over time, just giving the house a good cleaning around the appliances, wiping the dust off of light bulbs, overhead and other fans, air conditioner filters and coils, can end up saving you quite a bit of money, help the planet and improve your living conditions much quicker and with only the expense of some cleaning supplies and good old fashioned elbow grease.