Mayte,

Despite our healthy conservative instinct to try to save and repair old refrigerators and freezers it's generally environmentally and economically preferable to replace freezers and refrigerators that are 15 or more years old, simply because new energy efficient freezers and refrigerators pay for themselves fairly quickly (1-7 years) in the money saved and air emissions prevented by not using as much electricity, which in our region comes largely from coal-fired power plants.

The US EPA / DOE EnergyStar website has good resources on Freezers & Refrigerators including a calculator to determine the savings of replacing your current appliance with a new EnergyStar model.

Caveat, if you purchase or produce your own green electricity then it may be environmentally or economically preferable to keep your refrigerator or freezer longer.

Regardless of whether you concerned about saving money on your annual utilities or reducing your household contributions to Global Climate Change, freezers and refrigerators are one best places to look for significant savings.

Kindly,

Barton

-- 
Barton Kirk, EIT, MS
barton@ecoseeds.org

Ecological Design Collaborative
   -- a program of SEEDS --

826 Chislett St.
Pittsburgh, PA 15206
412.363.2813
412.945.5138 (f)
802.238.0813 (c)
www.ecoseeds.org
www.ecodesigncollaborative.com

msaenz+@pitt.edu wrote:

I have a chest freezer that gets cold but doesn't freeze, I am guessing
that it needs a new compressor and it will more expensive to fix than to
get a new one. I also have a treadmill that decided to stop working quite
suddenly, I think it is probably a fuse but have no clue how to fix it.

Does anyone know how to fix any of those, who to call or how to dispose of
them if unable to get them back in working order? Both items are big and I
don't think the city will take them, even as bulky items.

If anyone wants to get them for free and try to fix them that will be fine
as well.

Thanks so much,

Mayte Sáenz Robles