BajaNomad - Whirlpool Fridge

Whirlpool Fridge

maspacifico - 6-24-2010 at 10:44 AM

I brought down a Whirlpool resource saver fridge last December after hearing about it on Nomads. After research the numbers sounded great. Can't find the post. Anyway, if it rings any bells, I'd like to hear how theirs is handling the heat if they are on the Cortez side. Ours went from 40 watts an hour in December to 80 last week. I've done a little location mod to give it more breathing room and it seems to help, though the weather has really changed here in the last day.

toneart - 6-24-2010 at 10:57 AM

Mas Pacifico,

I realize your inquiry has to do with the energy savings of your new Whirlpool Fridge, but I would like to offer a different, positive endorsement for the Whirlpool brand name:

I bought my Whirlpool Refrigerator new, (made in Mexico), four years ago when I built my casita in Mulege. Of all the appliances, furniture, and electronics, the refrigerator is the single possession that has survived three massive hurricane driven floods. The compressor remained sealed. Oh, it has dents all over the exterior and has lost some plastic compartments. It literally floated to the ceiling and bobbed around the interior of the house, careening off of ceilings, walls and other objects, until the water receded. :yes:

I took it apart each time, including the interior lining in order to clean the insulation and mud that was encased there, and thoroughly disinfected it, and cleaned it up and it is going strong! :yes:

I hope your Whirlpool gives you the service and energy savings that you desire. :coolup:

maspacifico - 6-24-2010 at 11:02 AM

Hola toneart.....at 150 above sea level we shouldn't have to put it through that test, but glad to hear it will take a beating! Sure keeps the beer cold and the veggies fresh!

Hook - 6-24-2010 at 11:20 AM

One thing to keep in mind...........Whirlpool appliances made in Mexico are NOT made by Whirlpool. Depending on the appliance, it is likely made by Acros.

We bought a Whirlpool stove down here and it is markedly inferior to the ones in the States. Absolutely zero insulation along the sides and back and it has to be manually lit. No thermocoupler to terminate the gas if fire goes out. This thing has trouble hitting 400 F degrees when it's 70 F out.

I think I might try some of that expanding foam insulation along the sides that comes out of a can. . :light:

Just cant determine how flammable the end product is.

And this was considered near the top of the line in their lineup.

Live and learn....................

[Edited on 6-24-2010 by Hook]

maspacifico - 6-24-2010 at 11:32 AM

We have a fine Acros stove from Home Depot! The fridge came from US.......at least that's where I bought it.

Pompano - 6-24-2010 at 12:04 PM

maspacifico..

I know my fridge is probably not the same as yours..except in name. But what I did may help your efficiency.

I have a large,upright Mexican 'Whirlpool' electric refridgerator that has increased it's performance dramatically ....

...by being encased in a 2 inch think shielding enclosure (a box structure without a back or front..just the sides and a linking piece over the top).

The insulating foam sheets are finished on the outside and edges with a walnut wood grain veneer, giving it a good look in my billiard room. The back of the unit, which is a heat generating area, is vented straight up through the roof by a exhaust fan run by a small motor.

I run this fridge continuosly all year..on solar power. It will chill cases of beer and sodas to almost freezing. Been running now for 6-7 years. It's a good basic unit, but the insulating enclosure really makes it run much better.

I also have 2 Crysal Cold gas fridges. Also enclosed in similar insulation. The Whirlpool is less trouble, easier to defrost and clean... and it cools quicker.

If I can find a photo that I know I took of that electric fridge and enclosure, I'll post it here, but you get the idea. It's all about the insulation..

Good luck.

p.s. I bought it in La Paz for around $280 USD.

[Edited on 6-24-2010 by Pompano]

Juan del Rio - 6-24-2010 at 12:12 PM

I purchased a Whirlpool, Side-by-Side, Resource Refrigerator (white) last month, Model #GS5VHAXW001. I did not bring it to Baja, so I cannot review the heat issue for you. It has definitely cut down on my electrical usage though and seems to be an "ok" unit that works well so far. I purchased it for the energy savings as the main objective and the $350 rebates I received from SCE/State of CA and Whirlpool directly. With all rebates, it was around $975 with tax/out the door.
Huge freezer side, smaller than I like refrigerator side. I'd give it an "A" for energy consumption and a "B" for "Creature" features (OK Shelves, no egg/butter holders, Ok ice unit and it did not come with LED Lighting inside). Overall, I wanted the Energy Savings vs. the other stuff, so I bought what I needed.

Bob and Susan - 6-24-2010 at 12:39 PM

we're using 2 fridges right now...
on solar

one we bought in mexico uses 130 watts
the american side by side uses 180 watts

remember they only use "watts" when the motor is working
when it's hotter you tend to open the door more
making the motor run more and you use more "watts"

pompano doesn't open the door in the summer
thus no extra electrical usage

remember this too....if your voltage drops
because you have town electricty or your batteries are low
you use more "watts" to run the unit
and the motor gets hotter and less efficient

our american fridg is WAY better than the mexican one
shelves, door closes correctly, quality...etc

we have an arcos stove from mexico
WAY inferior like hook says
but usable
the worst thing is no thermostat
then no insulation around the door

enclosing a regular fridge may not be a good ideas as interior parts
need to be cooled and are located on the sides
the metal on the sides gets warm cooling the parts inside

all our newer electric fridges are "self-defrost"
you only need windex to clean them

i finally hooked up the ice maker to a water bottle
and set the water up top to drain
the fridge makes lots of ice now and ice comes out the door
this saves us from opening the door just for ice
and the fridg works less

Pompano - 6-24-2010 at 12:56 PM

Actually, Bob..my Baja fridge is opened daily in the summer..many times.

Some guests had wedding party there the other day.

Haven't you heard, it gets hot down there! :rolleyes:

I misspoke on the Whirlpool..it is self-defrosting, and makes ice cubes before you can set the tray down...

I think I paid more pesos for diesel to La Paz than the unit cost.

6 years and it just keeps running.

DENNIS - 6-24-2010 at 01:11 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by toneart 9/21/2007
I have a Mexican Whirlpool refrigerator that went through the Mulege flood.
It floated to the ceiling, got wedged between the kitchen counter and the ceiling and was filled with mud. It is covered with dents and scratches. Some of the plastic drawers and shelves were broken. I had a local appliance guy haul it away, thinking that's the last I will see of it. To my surprise, he showed up at my front door with the fridge in the back of his pickup. He had cleaned it out, soldered some broken tubing and recharged it. I thoroughly disinfected it and glued some of the broken plastic. He charged me $68 U.S. dollars and it is purring right along. ....works perfectly. No warm Pacifico!

Pompano - 6-24-2010 at 01:12 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by DENNIS

Quote:

Tony...I wonder if that was Arturo out on the ice plant road?

monoloco - 6-24-2010 at 02:19 PM

I believe that if you are running on solar, you can disable the auto defrost and the unit will use even less power.

maspacifico - 6-24-2010 at 03:26 PM

I put a Kill a Watt meter on it three days ago so I know it is using an average of 80 watts an hour. That's double what it was using in December. I pulled it away from the wall a few inches and it is using 60 watts an hour, but the weather has really cooled off since yesterday so I'm not sure if the move did anything.

If I had the room I would insulate more! The electric replaced a propane fridge that worked fine but seemed to get smaller every day.

Have to do some serious operating to disable the defrost cycle!

I know someone moving down here wrote about the same model and was wondering if they were keeping track of how much it was using.

oladulce - 6-25-2010 at 06:58 AM

Maspacifico, it might have been me. We bought a US Resource Saver a few months before we moved down here in Dec. so we could bring it with the rest of the household goods. Can't break ground on the casa that the fridge will occupy until the elusive impact Study is in hand (1-2 more months) so I don't have energy notes to compare. it's sitting in the garage and we use a small propane fridge in the casita.

I'm on the Pacific side of the central coast of BCS where over the past month the daytime temps never got out of the 60's ! Over this past week, it finally crept up to 82 one day and still drops as low as 58 at night so it doesn't sound like I could give you a very accurate comparison anyway.

I'll let you know when we fire it up

maspacifico - 6-25-2010 at 08:19 AM

Okay oladulce. You must have been the one! I was hoping you would be on the hot side so I would get a comparison. Must just be the heat. It will work great on the Pacific side for you.

Bob and Susan - 6-25-2010 at 01:32 PM

are you on batteries?

toneart - 6-25-2010 at 01:49 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Pompano

Quote:

Originally posted by DENNIS

Quote:

Tony...I wonder if that was Arturo out on the ice plant road?

Roger,
Yes, it was Arturo. Some people say he has not done well for them, but he has done well for me. This year he got my AC cleaned out, figured out the electronics and it runs well. Right now it is disconnected, stored upstairs on top of stuff, just in case.

Dennis,
Your quote was from my post in 2007. It has been through two floods since then and is still working well. I am curious though, as to why you took the trouble to dig into the archives to pull that post up. :?:

longlegsinlapaz - 6-25-2010 at 01:57 PM

maspacifico, you said you moved it a little better air circulation....but where does it sit in relationship to a slider or window....i.e., is there outside sun hitting it for any portion of the day? Also, if you have pets, when was the last time you vacuumed animal hair off the coils underneath?

maspacifico - 6-25-2010 at 04:40 PM

Bob and Susan I am a long way from electric lines. 800 amp hours of batteries and I use about 2KW a day now that the fridge is working harder.
longlegs...Used the vacuum yesterday. It's out of the sun and the wall it is closest to is the North wall. It gets a little afternoon sun but that will change soon as the sun moves away from it's peak. Our neighbors are in La Paz today and they say it's "smokin'"

It turned warmer this afternoon and I'll see if moving it away from that wall for more circulation did anything.

Cypress - 6-25-2010 at 04:48 PM

They're closing the US Whirlpool assembly plant and moving the whole operation to Mexico. The US loses another 1,000 or so jobs.

DENNIS - 6-25-2010 at 05:54 PM

Just noticed that American Standard bathroom fixtures are down here too.

larryC - 7-10-2010 at 01:11 PM

Maspacifico
I am on solar, and I have a sears 18cf refer. During the winter months it uses 1kw of power in 24 hours. In the summer months when ambient temps are in the high 90's it uses 3kw a day. This is according to a killawatt meter. I was really surprised that a 20 to 30 degree rise in ambient would cause the refer to triple its power consumption. So what is happening to you is pretty much what I am experiencing. Darn it!
Larry
PS my solar system can keep up but just barely.

maspacifico - 7-10-2010 at 01:49 PM

Thanks Larry, it's been pretty cool lately but I've been monitoring the fridge since I posted and it's pulling about 1.5KW a day averaged over a month. The fridge does a weird start up cycle that draws a lot, and it doesn't seem to matter that the thing has been running for a month or an hour. If I unplug it and plug it right back into the kill a watt, it will go through the high draw start up thing again. Maybe leave your meter on it for a week and see if is using less than you think? I used to use the Search mode on the inverter but can't with the fridge now.

Bob and Susan - 7-10-2010 at 01:57 PM

i wouldn't use the "search mode" with the inverter

just leave the inverter on all the time

just another thing that could go bad
it's like a lightbulb
it could go out anytime

the fridge...stop opening the door

vandenberg - 7-10-2010 at 02:07 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Bob and Susan
the fridge...stop opening the door

Right !

Keep your beer in a tub with ice and may as well put your snacks in there too. And maybe your steak.
and then, you can chitcan that whirlpool permanently. :biggrin:

maspacifico - 7-10-2010 at 05:34 PM

Hard to get the beer out without opening the door! The first fridge I got down here made it like I wasn't camping anymore. No more ice chests unless I'm headed to the beach. Writing this with long pants and a flannel shirt on. What the.....?

fishabductor - 7-10-2010 at 08:06 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by maspacifico
Hard to get the beer out without opening the door! The first fridge I got down here made it like I wasn't camping anymore. No more ice chests unless I'm headed to the beach. Writing this with long pants and a flannel shirt on. What the.....?

It must be cold way up there on the mountain!! I'm in a pair of shorts

larryC - 8-8-2010 at 02:35 PM

Mas
I did put that refer on the Kilawatt for a couple of days and it was the same. I had a beer cooler in my garage that was a Dometic freezer set to its warmest setting and it kept my drinks at 37-38 degrees, perfect. It died and to buy another was way to expensive. I did some searching on google and found a way to convert a small chest freezer to a refer. I posted what I did over on the TalkBaja forum here: http://www.talkbaja.com/showthread.php?t=3718
It is a 5cf freezer and only uses .3kw a day. Take a look and see what you think.
Larry

Whirlpool Resource Saver fridge report

oladulce - 9-9-2010 at 08:48 AM

I bought the Whirlpool Resource Saver before we moved down to Baja Sur in anticipation of installing it in our future house. But the permits and Studies are dragging on and I'm still staring at the mountain of block, waiting to begin construction "any day now". In the meantime, we've been using a gas fridge .

After a smashed finger and sore back, my husband was really tired of hoisting the tall propane bottles in to the truck and hauling in to town. Since we currently generate more solar power than we need for this little crackerbox casita, we decided to set up the electric fridge.

Last week we started it up in the garage (empty) and attached the kill-o-watt meter. The high temp during that time was 88-89° and the fridge drew 54 watts/hr (1.3Kw/24).

It's now in the casita and it's much cooler this week- high yesterday was only 79°. The fridge is using 43 watts/hr (1.03 Kw/24 hr). When we calc'd out our solar, i think we allowed for the fridge to use 65 w/ hr , so all is good!

They call this model the 19 cu ft freezer-on-top (5 cu ft freezer, 13.9 cu ft fridge) G9RXXFMS.

I bought a small chest freezer before we moved too, expecting the once-a-month trips to town or big stock up trips to La Paz would fill up the Whirlpool freezer. But for just the 2 of us, I think the Whirlpool fridge and freezer might be plenty big enough. Maybe we'll convert the chest freezer to an energy miser fridge for the guest casita like LarryC and Jesse reported, and be free of the propane fridge all together.

[Edited on 9-9-2010 by oladulce]

maspacifico - 9-9-2010 at 10:34 AM

oladulce...Pretty sure it's the same fridge. I've had my kill a watt meter on it for 79 days now. Average over that period is 61 watts per hour, under 1 1/2 kilowatts a day.....been a bit warmer than 79 degrees here! The fridge has a definite start up cycle that uses much more energy in the first day, and once you unplug it and plug it in again it goes through that cycle every time. Really hard to use the kill a watt meter unless it's plugged in for a week!