Is your fridge an energy hog?

Did you know that your refrigerator accounts for 9% of your household energy bill? I picked up that figure recently from the Philadelphia Housing Development Corp.'s penny-pinching weatherization manual (PDF).

Now comes word from Earth to Philly reader Janet Moore of a handy online tool for figuring out how much energy your refrigerator raids from the grid.

"It's a database where you may plug in the make and model of your fridge or freezer and find out how much energy it consumes," Janet writes.

The database pulls up your refrigerator's energy rating, which is the number of kilowatt hours it uses in a year. Piggy old fridges can go above 1,000.  Some 18-cubic-foot Energy Star-rated models being sold today are rated in the 300s.

Janet tried it. "It was enlightening to me to find out that the second-hand Kenmore in our basement is over 25 years old, and quite the energy hog," she writes.  "Hopefully with the information, I can convince my husband that it's cheaper in the long run to buy a new model."

I tried it too, and my 8-year-old Jenn-Air is surprisingly efficient. (Our family always looks for the Energy Star logo.) While I'm happy to know we have an eco-friendly fridge, it was bittersweet to learn there's no Sub-Zero in my near future.