Savings up to 50%? Has anyone actually tested this, any resources? What about the use of several layers of recycled cardboard? That would be free and maybe a better insulator than carpeting or cork?

Went through five links and still can't find the "how to" just keeps repeating the same intro.

==auth. note==
Harry,
which link are you trying? The How-tos at Chelsea Green and HowStuffWorks are linking fine for me. The links to Was$ted and Renovation Nation are teasers for the Discovery Channel's 24-hour non-stop Green TV channel: I mention these two programs because they might be interesting to tune into for anyone who enjoyed the subject matter of this article. If it is still not clear, pop me a mail at christine a treehugger dot com and I will see if I can help.

Hey, thats a neat trick. Specially when You have an old fridge with dents and paint-chip, but otherwise in good working condition. And if You can pull it off with scavanged and recycled materials from other home improvement projects - even better. Just make sure the back of the fridge has plenty of clearance to allow heat exchange.

BAD idea. Insulating your fridge like that might cover the condenser. Keeping heat engergy in and killing your fridge.

==auth. note==
It is a good observation, Ben. I know it was my first thought and I checked carefully to make certain this point was addresed by Chelsea Green. However, it never hurts to say such things twice:

Everyone, please note in the instructions: it emphasizes to leave very good airflow on the side of the refrigerator where the coils/compressor are located.

Never mind the Fridge I'd like to shag him! lol

Let's see a quick rundown in real terms: if your energy costs are say $200 per month (averaged out over the year of course, for a high-energy user), then 8% is $16/month for a fridge's energy costs. Slash that with an EnergyStar compliant fridge (basically anything made in the last 10 years in the US), and your spending less than $150/year for a fridge's energy costs. Which means, it would be cheaper to either buy a new fridge if yours is NOT EnergyStar rated (provided you will be in the same home for a few years to reap the benefits), or just gulp down the fact that you'll have to (oh my gosh!) spend an extra $30 more per year for your "inefficient" fridge.

Come on people. I can see if you have the opportunity to move to a solar-powered fridge or something, but adding shag to save $30/year, is ghetto-styling in more ways than one. I mean, are things that bad that $30 a year (or $2.50 per month) will make or break you? Are you really that tacky that shag (or cork) will "improve" the interior design (or air quality) of your home?

Or is this more about one-upping the Joneses than energy savings?

Question worthy of consideration:

Would adding plastic or cardboard jugs full of water to the freezer save energy when they turn to ice and increase the cold mass, or would they require more energy over time since the freezer has to keep a large mass of water frozen?

==auth. note==
Robert:
Good question. Answer: YES! For more tips on using your refrigerator efficiently, check out Is your Fridge Running Efficiently!

fridge as a heatpump?
How about turning things upside down, sort of.
Here in Denmark, a 1 or 2year old fridge is really cheap.
So how about using this as a heatpump. Take off the door, place fridge in door or window-hole in your house. Where you used to place the food is pointing to outside. Good insulation around edges is a must. Your fridge will atttempt to cool down the air outside your house. The heat that comes on the back, top, bottom and sides of fridge, which is now inside your house, will be delivered to your house. COP (which is the relation between power used by fridge and heat coming into your house) is unknown. Could anyone tell? Is this too mad? Cheers, John

8% of an energy budget? Wow. Much more than I expected. My fridge & freezer together use ~1-2kWh/day, which if representative would mean the average family (not individual) uses under 30 kWh of electricity per day. Now even if that were true (which it can't be- the U.S. consumes 500GW of electricity or so and 1.33 kW/family is a lot less than the residential share of that amount), we must remember that this isn't our whole "energy budget" just our "electricity budget." Our energy budget also includes the embodied energy in what we buy, the energy used to transport it to us, the fuel for our cars, and so on.
If you like carpet, go for it. And definitely good if you take the cork suggestion. But the energy savings aren't going to be that much.

This all begs the question. Is you refrigerator running? Well, you better go catch it!

OK, couldn't resist; it needed to said.

Seriously, the shag idea is somewhat impractical or aesthetically unpleasing in all but the most funky of apartment scenarios, but the cork idea has a lot of merit, is a two-fer (posting notes and kid's artwork, etc), while providing a marginal increase in insulation savings.

re: john jorgensen

Vapor cycle heat pumps only work well when the temperature range doesn't exceed the working range of the refrigerant. It should work in moderate weather but when it gets very cold, you'd need exotic refrigerant. Solid state coolers like Peltiers don't have any refrigerant to freeze so they can work at lower temps but are less efficient because the hot and cold ends are so close together.

You don't need the whole box, just the coils, compressor & a pair of fans to keep the air moving over the coils inside & outside.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_source_heat_pumps

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermoelectric_effect

re The orginal Article

If you never use A/C then don't bother with this. The extra heat wasted just helps heat your house. If you do live in a hot area then consider doing it in the spring but use a hot water heater blanket, not carpet and don't cover the coils!

John:

I think you're missing the point of insulating the fridge: it's not to save *money*, but to save *energy*. Also, buying a new fridge would mean wasting more energy to produce it & leaving behind another piece of junk to clog the landfill.

I find this to be a red-neck contraptions and can only see this as an untested claims which would give treehuggers a bad name.

First, most fridge don't waste energy from the sides or top, but rather from old broken seals, being opened to often and having outdated electrical components.

What is proposed here is to successfully add isolation over already existing isolation... how could even 0.1% of people out there pull this off with any result at all? The skill required are not "moderate" as he claims.

Secondly, almost all kitchens have their fridge snugly fitted in a tight spot with little or no room for an aditionnal frame.

What next? Cover your house with rolls and rolls of shag carpet? Come'on people! The whole thing sound like someone trying to get attention.

Is the drawing accompanying the book a quickly hand drawn sketch because even the author doesnt have anything decent to show as a result ?

As treehuggers, maybe we should be as critical of our own ideas as we are of everything else.

A more efficient and cost effective renewable energy system is needed. R2
A more efficient and cost effective renewable energy system is needed.
To accelerate the implementation of renewable electric generation with added incentives and a FASTER PAYBACK - ROI. (A method of storing energy, would accelerate the use of renewable energy) A greater tax credit, accelerated depreciation, funding scientific research and pay as you save utility billing. (Reduce and or eliminates the tax on implementing energy efficiency, eliminate increase in Real estate Taxes for energy efficiency improvement). Tax incentive and rebates have to be tripled.
In California, you also have the impediment, that when there are an interruption of power supply by the Utility you the consumer cannot use your renewable energy system to provide power.
In today's technology there is automatic switching equipment that would disconnect the consumer from the grid, which would permit renewable generation for the consumer even during power interruption. Energy storage technology must advance substantially. “Energy conservation through energy storage”.
New competition for the world's limited oil and natural gas supplies is increasing global demand like never before. Reserves are dwindling. These and other factors are forcing energy prices to skyrocket here at home. It's affecting not just the fuel for our cars and homes, it is affecting food prices and it's driving up electricity costs, too. A new world is emerging. The energy decisions our nation makes today will have huge implications into the next century. We must expedite the implementation of renewable energy.
A synchronous system with batteries allows the blending of a PV with grid power, but also offers the advantage of “islanding” in case of a power failure. A synchronous system automatically disconnects the utility power from the house and operates like an off-grid home during power failures. This system, however, is more costly and loses some of the efficiency advantages of a battery-less system.
We’re surrounded by energy — sun, wind, water. The problem is harnessing it in an economical way.
Jay Draiman, Northridge, CA
June 30, 2008

Jay Draiman Energy Development Specialist provides expertise in all sectors of the energy and utility industry.
Over 20 years experience. Specializing in: Energy Audit, Telecom audit, Utility bills audit and review for refunds or better rates, Demand Management, Energy Efficiency review and implementation, Renewable Energy, Lighting Retrofit, Solar Energy, Wind Energy, Fuel-Cell, Thermal imaging, Rainwater harvesting, Energy conservation, Ice Storage, Water conservation methods, Energy and telecom audit and procurement
Much is at stake when policy makers, regulators, and corporate executives face the challenges of evolving energy markets and efficiency.

www.energysavers2.com

Interesting conversations.... Please comeup with recomendations....