Try to think about your preferred beverage, snack, or meal before opening the fridge-especially if you often find yourself paralyzed by indecision when peering into the icebox... read full tip

Try to think about your preferred beverage, snack, or meal before opening the fridge-especially if you often find yourself paralyzed by indecision when peering into the icebox.

Each time the fridge door is opened, warm air from the kitchen rushes in to heat up the refrigerated compartment-sometimes by 10 to 20 degrees. This warm air increases energy consumption as the compressor works harder to cool the interior back down.

Studies show that the average refrigerator is opened 40 to 50 times per day, and the average freezer is opened 15 times per day. If you have an older refrigerator, or if the door stays open for more than a few seconds, each door opening can use 8 to 10 watt hours of electricity.

If the average U.S. household reduced its refrigerator and freezer door openings by 50 percent per day, the energy savings would sum up to about $12 per year.

If 30 percent of all U.S. households cut their fridge and freezer door openings by just one time per day, the annual energy savings would exceed 125 million kilowatt-hours-enough to freeze nearly 300 million gallons of room-temperature water, and create a block of ice the size of the Empire State Building.

Home Energy Magazine onlineThe Empire State Building