What a waste-why are the fridges on in stores? (Sponsor Home Depot's stores included)

[mangoman]

This really pi$$es me off - why are they wasting so much energy by leaving these fridges on? We all know the fridges and freezers get cold so really it serves us no purpose. This isn't isolated to 1 or 2 stores either, every Home Depot I've gone to that has appliances seems to be doing this and I've seen this at other places like Sears as well. I complained about it at HD and was told "some of the employees keep their lunches in them" - Yeah right!! If it were true, then would they need 3 or 4 fridges to be left on?? Shameful ... I think this warrants a letter to Head Office.
>:(

[HBP]

:lol: @ the irony of Home Depot sponsoring this subforum.

[bionicbadger]

Same reason there are 50+ TVs running at futureshop/bestbuy. People want to see the product running, they want to see a light come on when they open the door.

[mangoman]

Same reason there are 50+ TVs running at futureshop/bestbuy. People want to see the product running, they want to see a light come on when they open the door.

I agree with the FS/BB situation however it is a little different, as I can understand someone wanting to see the quality of the image but for a fridge there really isn't much to judge between two fridges when it comes to temperature!! "Oooooh this one's -5C! And this one's -5C too! no wait -4.5 maybe? Oh and the light really does come on for every fridge here - who knew?!!! :confused:

[corrupt123]

Not to mention that temperature is adjustable, so there is no real benifit.

[MrBurns]

People want to see the light come on and brighten the insides. I bet one that doesn't light up won't sell as well... you can always turn the temparature high enough to make it work less I guess.

[crashcourse]

LOL unplug them!;)

[gman]

I agree with the FS/BB situation however it is a little different, as I can understand someone wanting to see the quality of the image but for a fridge there really isn't much to judge between two fridges when it comes to temperature!! "Oooooh this one's -5C! And this one's -5C too! no wait -4.5 maybe? Oh and the light really does come on for every fridge here - who knew?!!! :confused:

I am not saying they should leave it on. However, certain fridge needs to be on to see the feature inside clearly (and may even outside such as a TV). Not everyone has good eyes. They should be have an on/off switch outside so that customers can turn it on/off themselves. Or, they can somehow unplug the air compressor and leave the lighting available when the door is open.

[mangoman]

I am not saying they should leave it on. However, certain fridge needs to be on to see the feature inside clearly (and may even outside such as a TV). Not everyone has good eyes. They should be have an on/off switch outside so that customers can turn it on/off themselves. Or, they can somehow unplug the air compressor and leave the lighting available when the door is open.

Hmmm I humbly disagree - my fridge's bulb just burnt out 2 wks ago and I haven't replaced it yet mainly because when I'm in the kitchen getting something there's actually more than enough light to see what's in the fridge!

I still haven't seen any of the TV-fridges in my HD's or Sears (and I would think they would have at most 1 on the floor if they did) and I would say at most 5% of total sales would be affected by someone needing to see what the inside of the fridge looks like lit up? What feature would you need to have the fridge powered up to get a better understanding of (other than the light actually lighting up?). I do realize as well that some of the water/ice-dispensing models now have leds that light up but really they don't bother doing that for the other appliances (dishwasher/washer/dryer). Still a complete waste and sad to see in this day and age.

[gman]

Hmmm I humbly disagree - my fridge's bulb just burnt out 2 wks ago and I haven't replaced it yet mainly because when I'm in the kitchen getting something there's actually more than enough light to see what's in the fridge!

I still haven't seen any of the TV-fridges in my HD's or Sears (and I would think they would have at most 1 on the floor if they did) and I would say at most 5% of total sales would be affected by someone needing to see what the inside of the fridge looks like lit up? What feature would you need to have the fridge powered up to get a better understanding of (other than the light actually lighting up?). I do realize as well that some of the water/ice-dispensing models now have leds that light up but really they don't bother doing that for the other appliances (dishwasher/washer/dryer). Still a complete waste and sad to see in this day and age.

Your kitchen is low ceiling. Hence, you can see easily. Store has high ceiling and the lighting is not bright enough. You are young and your eyes are good. I am old and I have problem to see if there is not enough light.

There are buttons and stickers inside the fridge sometime and I want to know what it is. It can be dark enough for me to read it. You know your own fridge. Hence, you don't need to read anything inside after you bought it.

I am not buying fridge every other years. If I need to buy a fridge, my knowledge about the new "fridge technology" would be at least 10 years out of date. Hence, I would like to check all these tiny details. No, not just the temperature thing or just the light. I would like to check the material. Is it glass? Is it plastic? What kind of colour that button is? What grade of white? Is it dull white or gross white? What is that button for? What is that cabinet for? What is that funny hole for?

[brunes]

I am not saying they should leave it on. However, certain fridge needs to be on to see the feature inside clearly (and may even outside such as a TV). Not everyone has good eyes. They should be have an on/off switch outside so that customers can turn it on/off themselves. Or, they can somehow unplug the air compressor and leave the lighting available when the door is open.

This is a stupid argument because you could take any 40w lamp and put it in fridge and leave it on 24/7 and it would use a TINY PERCENTAGE of what even the most efficient fridge uses... never even mind the fact you could use a CFL and make it even more efficient.

This is just HD laziness.

[mangoman]

Your kitchen is low ceiling. Hence, you can see easily. Store has high ceiling and the lighting is not bright enough. You are young and your eyes are good. I am old and I have problem to see if there is not enough light.

There are buttons and stickers inside the fridge sometime and I want to know what it is. It can be dark enough for me to read it. You know your own fridge. Hence, you don't need to read anything inside after you bought it.

I am not buying fridge every other years. If I need to buy a fridge, my knowledge about the new "fridge technology" would be at least 10 years out of date. Hence, I would like to check all these tiny details. No, not just the temperature thing or just the light. I would like to check the material. Is it glass? Is it plastic? What kind of colour that button is? What grade of white? Is it dull white or gross white? What is that button for? What is that cabinet for? What is that funny hole for?


I wouldn't say I'm that young but my eyes are pretty good - that said are you sure you've been in a HD or Sears? The lighting there is brighter than my kitchen or anywhere else in my house.

Glass or plastic? Most people can tell by touching/feeling/knocking it. What kind of colour is a particular button? Are you serious? :confused:

Respectfully, I would have to say you fall into the category of <1% of shoppers and I'd say having 1% of shoppers bring in a flashlight so they can check if an inside button is "dull white vs. gross white" over leaving energy hogs on day and night would be far better for everyone (even if they are energuide/energysaver models). In fact with the energy savings, perhaps they could even reduce the prices by $40-50 on that floor model and you wouldn't even care about the interior colour! :lol:

[Wiseman]

I wouldn't say I'm that young but my eyes are pretty good - that said are you sure you've been in a HD or Sears? The lighting there is brighter than my kitchen or anywhere else in my house.

Glass or plastic? Most people can tell by touching/feeling/knocking it. What kind of colour is a particular button? Are you serious? :confused:

Respectfully, I would have to say you fall into the category of <1% of shoppers and I'd say having 1% of shoppers bring in a flashlight so they can check if an inside button is "dull white vs. gross white" over leaving energy hogs on day and night would be far better for everyone (even if they are energuide/energysaver models). In fact with the energy savings, perhaps they could even reduce the prices by $40-50 on that floor model and you wouldn't even care about the interior colour! :lol:


I think gman's point is it's big 10+ year investment of one of the most important appliances of a home costing between $1000-$5000. He wants to be able to make a solid choice and be happy with that choice for the next decade. I think it's quite understandable. They really should just disconnect the compressor as he also suggested in an earlier post.

[gman]

This is a stupid argument because you could take any 40w lamp and put it in fridge and leave it on 24/7 and it would use a TINY PERCENTAGE of what even the most efficient fridge uses... never even mind the fact you could use a CFL and make it even more efficient.

This is just HD laziness.

I think I did better than that. I suggested to disconnect the compressor and the light turn on only if the door is open instead of a lamp to be on 24/7.

[mangoman]

I think I did better than that. I suggested to disconnect the compressor and the light turn on only if the door is open instead of a lamp to be on 24/7.


But this would require a $50-100 design change across the board for something that is an issue only because of these particular retailers thereby increasing the costs for 100% of the buyers because of 1% of potential buyers? >:(

Fridges were never designed/intended to be run with only their lights enabled (even 10 or 20 years ago). Heck even my Futureshop knows better than to power the fridges. Your solution is quite convoluted for something as minor as this - I would expect this level of "investigative research" for a purchase like a car (but at least in that case car dealers only power up the product when you need to test drive it, otherwise they leave the product sitting unpowered in the showroom/on the lot).

[gman]

I wouldn't say I'm that young but my eyes are pretty good - that said are you sure you've been in a HD or Sears? The lighting there is brighter than my kitchen or anywhere else in my house.


Did you actually go to a store to see a fridge without power? I did. Yes, you need a flash light to see what is inside. Even though the outside lighting is enough, it does not mean the light has a direct path to the inside of the fridge especially when the fridge is the one which is deep.

Your kitchen lighting is lower and usually in the center of the kitchen and the fridge beside the wall. Hence, there is a better direct path of light to go into the inside of the fridge. The higher the ceiling is the harder to have direct light into the fridge.

[gman]

But this would require a $50-100 design change across the board for something that is an issue only because of these particular retailers thereby increasing the costs for 100% of the buyers because of 1% of potential buyers? >:(

Fridges were never designed/intended to be run with only their lights enabled (even 10 or 20 years ago). Heck even my Futureshop knows better than to power the fridges. Your solution is quite convoluted for something as minor as this - I would expect this level of "investigative research" for a purchase like a car (but at least in that case car dealers only power up the product when you need to test drive it, otherwise they leave the product sitting unpowered in the showroom/on the lot).

Well, if that can't be done, put a lamp inside as other suggested. I also see store did that and the lamp had on/off switch. I already said if 'they can somehow unplug the air compressor'.

And, Futureshop was the one I had problem to see inside (not every FS though). The light happened to be directly above the fridge I wanted to look at. There was a thing in the fridge that I took a long time to figure out what it was. That would have been obvious to me if there was enough lighting.

[mangoman]

Did you actually go to a store to see a fridge without power? I did. Yes, you need a flash light to see what is inside. Even though the outside lighting is enough, it does not mean the light has a direct path to the inside of the fridge especially when the fridge is the one which is deep.

Your kitchen lighting is lower and usually in the center of the kitchen and the fridge beside the wall. Hence, there is a better direct path of light to go into the inside of the fridge. The higher the ceiling is the harder to have direct light into the fridge.


Yes I have been to the store to see a fridge without power (and the fridge I bought this year for my place was unpowered in the showroom). You're really fighting tooth and nail trying to justify the need to keep these fridges powered for something that you're (and the other 1% shopping minority) going to do once every 10 years, so what's a better, practical, more cost-efficient solution: have 1% of 10million or so buyers bring a flashlight so they can thoroughly inspect the inside of a fridge with a fine tooth comb or waste $40/fridge x 5 powered fridges/store x 300 stores (sears/bay/HD/Brick/Leons/etc.) ) Are you sure you don't work for the govt.? :cheesygri Maybe they could just keep a dollar-store version of the "Dot-it" lights on-hand - that to me would be far more efficient and would address this issue for the 1% shopping minority.

[eelfliw]

Using the same argument, people should just unplug the fridge in their homes by this time of year and just keep food in a box outside their houses since the daily highs are in the single digits.

Imagine the electricity savings if every house in Toronto unplugged the fridge for the period from December to March.

[stealth]

why are the fridges on in stores?
This seems to be really splitting hairs. I'd be interested to see how many people that are complaining about this use their energy by leaving PC's and mnitors running, lights on in rooms they dont use, heating vents open in roomsthey rarely are in, car motor idling, or taking the car for very short trips, using pointless gimmicky electrical appliances like 6 bottle wine chillers etc. We're all guilty of it in some small way. I doubt the fridges running in HD make much difference at all in the grand scheme of things.

[mangoman]

Using the same argument, people should just unplug the fridge in their homes by this time of year and just keep food in a box outside their houses since the daily highs are in the single digits.

Imagine the electricity savings if every house in Toronto unplugged the fridge for the period from December to March.

Uhhhh yeah right - sorry guy but that's not the same logic at all - those fridges are actually being used for something and I challenge you to maintain your frozen and cooled goods at the proper/safe temperature consistently from now until March - one day it's -15C the next week it's +7C (you can maybe try something if you have a home with land/backyard but good luck in a condo! :P )

[mangoman]

This seems to be really splitting hairs. I'd be interested to see how many people that are complaining about this use their energy by leaving PC's and mnitors running, lights on in rooms they dont use, heating vents open in roomsthey rarely are in, car motor idling, or taking the car for very short trips, using pointless gimmicky electrical appliances like 6 bottle wine chillers etc. We're all guilty of it in some small way. I doubt the fridges running in HD make much difference at all in the grand scheme of things.

It may be a small thing to you but it's not to Hydro One (if it's not then why did Home Depot make such a big deal about turning out a certain % of their store lights during the big Power Crunches the past couple of summers?). All those things you mention are also quite significant too and they all add up (take the car idling - already several manufacturers have included the Idle-Stop/Start feature because they know it makes quite an impact on the Fuel Economy ratings). Guy - wastefulness is wastefulness, and even worse is if it's done consciously. We may all be guilty but what's wrong in trying to actually do something (as opposed to Harper et al trying to prolong things and do nothing/poison other countries' initiatives). >:(

[700mb80min]

Strange , i`ve never seen this .

[jayk]

to design an eco friendly house, technically if your fridge were on wheels, you could have an automated sensor wheel it out to an outside compartment of your home that was still caged, have a temperature sensor that once exceeded 3C would bring your fridge back into the house :)

[gman]

Yes I have been to the store to see a fridge without power (and the fridge I bought this year for my place was unpowered in the showroom). You're really fighting tooth and nail trying to justify the need to keep these fridges powered for something that you're (and the other 1% shopping minority) going to do once every 10 years, so what's a better, practical, more cost-efficient solution: have 1% of 10million or so buyers bring a flashlight so they can thoroughly inspect the inside of a fridge with a fine tooth comb or waste $40/fridge x 5 powered fridges/store x 300 stores (sears/bay/HD/Brick/Leons/etc.) ) Are you sure you don't work for the govt.? :cheesygri Maybe they could just keep a dollar-store version of the "Dot-it" lights on-hand - that to me would be far more efficient and would address this issue for the 1% shopping minority.

If you read what I wrote, you would find that I did not say the fridge should be turned on all the time. I just said there should be light when I need to see it.

That can be solved by many methods including putting an on/off switch or a timer switch or just a simple power bar or switch board type of switch (like the way they check speakers in the stereo store) outside of the fridge or a flash light attached to the fridge so that the customer can turn it on themselves . I don't understand why you have problem for the customer to take a closer look at the item.

Actually, now I think about it, yes, I actually want to turn the fridge fully power when I examine it and turn it off when I am done with it so that I can know how noisy the unit can be.

[mangoman]

If you read what I wrote, you would find that I did not say the fridge should be turned on all the time. I just said there should be light when I need to see it.

That can be solved by many methods including putting an on/off switch or a timer switch or just a simple power bar or switch board type of switch (like the way they check speakers in the stereo store) outside of the fridge or a flash light attached to the fridge so that the customer can turn it on themselves . I don't understand why you have problem for the customer to take a closer look at the item.

Actually, now I think about it, yes, I actually want to turn the fridge fully power when I examine it and turn it off when I am done with it so that I can know how noisy the unit can be.


No I actually have no problem with someone wanting to temporarily turn on the unit for any of these purposes. What I have a problem with (and what I started this thread for) is the current case of these stores leaving the fridges on 24/7. Up until now all the solutions you put forth have been more pie-in-the sky type of solutions. The power bar is not (and is something that could be implemented within 5 min. if they so desired to pursue it).

As for noise, I wonder why they don't list the decibel level of noise or have some sort of standard the way they measure for the same manufacturers' dishwashers?

[st7860]

if the TV's at futureshop bother you, use one of those tv-b-gone remote controls to turn them all off at once.

[sixer]

if the TV's at futureshop bother you, use one of those tv-b-gone remote controls to turn them all off at once.

lol, that would be awesome!

[st7860]

http://www.tvbgone.com

[hamant]

This really pi$$es me off - why are they wasting so much energy by leaving these fridges on? We all know the fridges and freezers get cold so really it serves us no purpose. This isn't isolated to 1 or 2 stores either, every Home Depot I've gone to that has appliances seems to be doing this and I've seen this at other places like Sears as well. I complained about it at HD and was told "some of the employees keep their lunches in them" - Yeah right!! If it were true, then would they need 3 or 4 fridges to be left on?? Shameful ... I think this warrants a letter to Head Office.
>:(


I completely agree with you, I can understand a TV being on but why would a fridge need to be on? to see how cold it can get?

[brunes]

I completely agree with you, I can understand a TV being on but why would a fridge need to be on? to see how cold it can get?

The way the TVs are hooked up and calibrated at most FS and BB stores (read: not properly AT ALL), they might as well not even be on because you can't judge anything by what you see in the store anyways. The only way to judge a TV in a store is bring in your own laptop and play a calibration video direct from it to the set, and demand the remote so you can properly adjust the settings.

[Dirkus]

Refridgerators smell bad when they are unplugged. With the tight seal the door has there is a chance of moisture building up inside and mold growing. Have you ever closed the cottage at the end of the year? You always leave the door open or it will be funky inside by the spring.

I know everything counts but this is small beans...Why not go after the grocery stores that have no doors on their dairy and freezer isles? And by the way, frozen goods should be maintained at -18 C if you want them to last, so the outside method won't really work.

[YLSF]

I have a hard time believing a brand new fridge that has never been used will smell when off! I haven't seen this before but if this is happening (fridge's being on in stores) you should right to some media that covers "green" stories...

[gerbil]

Refridgerators smell bad when they are unplugged. With the tight seal the door has there is a chance of moisture building up inside and mold growing. Have you ever closed the cottage at the end of the year? You always leave the door open or it will be funky inside by the spring.

I know everything counts but this is small beans...Why not go after the grocery stores that have no doors on their dairy and freezer isles? And by the way, frozen goods should be maintained at -18 C if you want them to last, so the outside method won't really work.

that's true that Refridgerators unplugged smells really bad ... but store's like HD can have the Fridge on Display unplugged.

[gman]

No I actually have no problem with someone wanting to temporarily turn on the unit for any of these purposes. What I have a problem with (and what I started this thread for) is the current case of these stores leaving the fridges on 24/7. Up until now all the solutions you put forth have been more pie-in-the sky type of solutions. The power bar is not (and is something that could be implemented within 5 min. if they so desired to pursue it).


Just because of this thread, I happened to check out the fridges in a Sears. All the fridge were turned on. i.e. all of them has its internal built in lighting on when I opened the door but none of them were cold including the freezer. It was as warm as outside the fridge. They were multiple brands and different fridges.

In other words, it appears there is a way (which seems to be common for all the fridges in that Sears) to turn on the built-in light without turning on the air compressor.

[brunes]

Just because of this thread, I happened to check out the fridges in a Sears. All the fridge were turned on. i.e. all of them has its internal built in lighting on when I opened the door but none of them were cold including the freezer. It was as warm as outside the fridge. They were multiple brands and different fridges.

In other words, it appears there is a way (which seems to be common for all the fridges in that Sears) to turn on the built-in light without turning on the air compressor.

You just turn the thermostat all the way up....

[Siefer999]

that's true that Refridgerators unplugged smells really bad ... but store's like HD can have the Fridge on Display unplugged.

fridges smell bad after absorbing odours from the food that is stored. a new fridge should not smell bad. in fact, it should have that new-fridge smell to it.