Do computers even benefit from rest, or it’s just some boomer delusion?
Way back before computers had sleep mode we were encouraged to shut it down when not in use to save electricity. I don’t think Windows 3.11 had it. The first time I think I remember encountering it was Windows 2000, but correct me if I’m wrong.
A thousand refrigerator psychers must be sacrificed so the frig emperor can live on in perpetual conflict with the gods of chaos: Frigidaire, whirlpool, Samsung and Slaanesh!
We’ve had a GE fridge that’s probably older than about 10 years. But you know, it’s complicated enough that it feels like it’s made to fail at some point.
Well, stuff stopped cooling but all the lights were on and everything else worked. It was really weird. We were thinking it might be a dead compressor or something. Crap, do we need a new fridge?
Nope! What basically amounts to a glorified computer fan with a fancier proprietary plug does all the work of distributing that cold air through the rest of the unit.
The proprietary plug is totally so they can sell it for $45, of course. Lol anyway, works like new!
Also get a dust mask and vacuum + blow out the back of your refrigerators, people. They get grooooss!!!
Ya. That black server fan in the frig is very common for the model of frig…also the little white resistance sensor on the coil tends to fall off of the tube sometimes causing it to defrost poorly. I like to swap them out when I’m doing the fan as a prophylactic.
The reason they use that fan is because it’s super quiet and voltage can be regulated to it for different spin speeds which I turn is supposed to save energy.
The issue with the fan in and of itself is that it’s inherently an aftermarket fan produced by an aftermarket manufacturer for GE. It’s just junk.
Funny thing, when I moved in, my last apartment had a refrigerator that was made in Yugoslavia. It died.
Resurrect it
We couldn’t get new parts from Yugoslavia, for some reason.
Resurrect Yugoslavia so you can get your fridge parts
Tis a noble endeavor indeed.
Fridges actually do rest. They cycle on and off as needed to maintain their desired temperature and on average only spend about 30% to 40% of their time “on”.
Tbf computers also have a sleep mode.
That is assuming they are in good working order with no broken seals anywhere. They will run continuously if they never manage to get near the target temp. Though in that case, your food is probably also not getting refrigerated and you hopefully notice.
I only found this out the other night because my fridge went dead silent for a long time. I thought it was borked, so I was peering deep into the freezer when I saw The Gates of Hell through the grate.
(Okay, so full disclosure, I had smoked some pot, but it totally looked like when Dana opened the fridge to Zuul before she was The Gatekeeper.) 😱😱😱
Anyways, turns out it was in defrost mode (which happens twice a day), and that involves some elements going orange or something. I know that’s vague-- I looked it up, but as I mentioned, I was high, so I only kinda remember, lol.
Edit:
The refrigerator activates a heating element located near the evaporator coil. This element warms the coils, causing any ice buildup to melt.
You’ve hear of fever dreams but this here buddy had a freezer dream.
We have a chest freeze from 1943 still running in my parents basement…
heh. my 15 year old frigid started making random groans the last couple weeks. far enough apart that i couldnt figure out where it came from. got lucky one day it moaned while i was close enough to yank open the freezer and see where the lever for the icemaker had accidentally got flipped to the on position. since i hadnt hooked up the water line to it, the groan was the pump sucking vacuum
Why not take the ice maker out so you have more freezer room, even filling that space with a bucket with ice will help the freezer stay colder easier if you don’t use the space. Could save energy long term and make it last longer
that’ll probably be my next move with it. got a portable icemaker last xmas so havent bothered with the internal one at all. the portable makes resturaunt style crushed ice anyway which lasts longer than cubes or nuggets imho.
From the moment I understood the weakness of my flesh…
My wife and I are on our third fridge in 35 years. But the furnace in her mom’s house when we sold it 5 years ago had been running since the late 1970s.
Except furnaces functionally shut off when not actively making heat. A fridge potentially is only off for power outages or a cleaning
Don’t fridges do the same thing? Once it gets the interior to the set temperature, the compressor turns off until the sensors say it needs more cold.
You are right, I totally forgot about that haha
30 years is a long life for a furnace. This thing was 45-50 and still running fine. The last maintenance note on the sheet on the inside was in the 80s lol.
Every time the power goes out…!
I never believed in power outages until I came face to face with one
Fridges 100% die, they’re made to now. If your fridge is really that old and you can manage it, NEVER get rid of it, tell your parents to leave it to you in their will lmao.
You will lose money this way, old refrigerators were way way more power hungry and you can easily expect to spend more than a new fridge within 5 years.
Depends on how old it is. Mine’s a 1995 model. I’ve measured its energy usage and a new fridge would pay for itself at around 9-10 years if I bought a basic model*. That’s around the lifespan I’d expect from a new fridge. So I’ll just keep using the old one until it dies.
(*) Current fridge is a basic, low end model, so assuming I replace with a similar basic, lower end model. Payback would be much longer if I upgraded.
Have you priced in cost of keeping your old one?
You still can buy modern compressor
You can still get new fridges that will last for decades. It just won’t be one with LCD screens, ice machines, in door dispensers, complex internal designs, etc. Every one of those things simply creates a cascade of new points of failure, and component materials of varying ability to deal with the stress of being a fridge. You can buy new, efficient, fridges that are nothing but a box that cools, and a box that freezes, with doors. They will last for decades if you don’t do anything crazy, or your house isn’t destroyed by a natural disaster.
Gimme a brand and a model name, internet dude
I have heard good things about the SMEG fridges, FWIW.
Thank you, internet dude
Glances over at my 1954 GE Combination that has NEVER been serviced outside of cleaning and replacing the light bulbs.
she probably just wants you to stop racking up the electric bill
Meanwhile the fridge using two cool lasers for cooling since the end of ww1
Except LG and Samsung fridges or the ones that use the linear compressors.
