The chart above shows the significant increases in the energy efficiency of home appliances over time, especially for the refrigerator (data were purchased from the
Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers website). In 1980, the energy factor (EF, a standard measure of overall energy efficiency for appliances) for a standard home refrigerator was 5.59, and by 2008 the EF increased almost three-fold to 15.50, for a 177.3% improvement in energy efficiency. The other standard home appliances in the chart also had significant improvements in energy efficiency, from a 41.5% increase for the room air-conditioner, to a 91.4% increase for the dishwasher.
If the energy efficiency of a refrigerator has almost tripled since 1980, what's happened to its price, measured in the cost in the time it takes an average American to earn enough income to purchase a standard refrigerator?
In 1979, the 17-cubic foot Kenmore refrigerator pictured below cost $469.95 (on sale at the "lowest price in 1979"), and the average
hourly wage then was $6.34 (Total: Private Industries), meaning that it would take 74.1 hours of work at the average hourly wage to earn enough income to purchase the refrigerator.
A 17.5 cubic-foot Whirlpool refrigerator (pictured below) is currently
listed on the Sears website for sale at $524.99. At the current average hourly wage of $18.67, it would take the average American today only 28.1 hours of work to buy the refrigerator.
Bottom Line: A standard refrigerator today is not almost 3 times more energy efficient than a comparable 1979-1980 model, its cost today is only about 1/3 the price of the 1979 model, measured it what is ultimately most important: our time. Put those two factors together, and the average American's refrigerator is nine times better than the refrigerator of 1980. Stated differently, if refrigerators hadn't fallen in price by almost a factor of 3 since 1980, and if they hadn't improved in energy efficiency by almost a factor of 3, Americans today might be paying more than $4,000 today for a 17 cubic foot refrigerator, instead of $525.
Despite our current economic problems and high unemployment, in many areas American consumers have never had it so good. Ever. The "good old days" are now.
