The colors of efficiency - to what extent?

[Dee67]

Clearly, using black/white on the exterior of the home has an effect on the temperature. Nice, white backed drapes repel sun/heat and help keep you cooler for less money.

To what extent or down to what level does this hold true?

If I had a black freezer and refrigerator and a white oven would it be less efficient than the opposite colored appliance of the same kind?

[purplefdu]

With both you need to look at the inside as well as the outside. While drapes and such can help with openings that generally lose heat such as windows, there aren't really the same issues with appliances. With appliances you are going to look at colors that reflect or absorb heat and the gaskets that protect the openings.

[Mary Webber]

What an intriguing question! While it makes sense to me that clothing, drapes etc. are dark to attract/hold heat or light to reflect/deflect heat, I can't imagine that it would make any difference on something like a freezer, etc. Of course whites always been a favorite color for kitchen appliances to symbolize cleanliness, etc. I love the psychology of colors, don't you!

[gt0163c]

They key to remember here is that, in terms of heat efficiency, is that color only makes a difference when you're talking about energy from visible light. So the color of the inside of your refrigerator or freezer won't really make a difference, as it's not exposed to visible light for a significant time.
The inside of your oven is slightly more important, especially if there is a window in the door. But it's still not a large contributor.
As for the outside color of these appliances, it will probably be dependent upon the type and amount of lighting in your kitchen. If your refrigerator and/or freezer are positioned such that light from a window hits them, the exterior color will make more of a difference than if they are shaded from exterior light. And, while I'm not certain, I have a feeling that flourescent vs incandescent lighting in the kitchen might make a bit of a difference due to the different wavelengths of the light with incandescent being more of a contributor to the radiant energy than flourescent. But, even given that, I don't think the color of these appliances will make a significant difference as they are both well insulated (or should be).

[jdp]

Oh and for the love of pete, if you are setting up a kitchen think twice before locating the fridge right next to the stove....THREE houses I've rented now thats the set up....makes NO sense to me. The last the fridge was directly next to the heating vent too. Yoi.

[kav122]

it is also not good feng shui to have your stove and refrigerator right next to each other.

[lucille]

Guess where our fridge is???
Well there is a small cupboard between the fridge and the stove but it still seems counterproductive since the stove puts off so much heat.

Color matters when your talking about solar heat absorption.

[FruWiki Meg]

Although I don't think it matters much when it comes to appliances, it does seem to matter with cars. I wouldn't dream of buying a dark-colored car here in Florida.

[gt0163c]

Originally Posted by FruWiki Meg

Although I don't think it matters much when it comes to appliances, it does seem to matter with cars. I wouldn't dream of buying a dark-colored car here in Florida.

It matters to a certain extent and depending upon the climate. In Texas, in the middle of the summer, after sitting on the asphalt all day in the full sun, it really doesn't matter what color your car is, it's going to be hotter than just about anything inside. I kinda think about it like winters up north. Yes -40 is colder than -20, but once you get to a certain point, it doesn't really matter. It's just freaking cold.

That said, I live in Texas and have driven a dark green truck and a dark blue car as well as lighter colored rentals/car swaps at times. Using a sunscreen on the windshield, cracking the windows and parking such that the car is facing into the afternoon sun when I'm leaving it all day (so as to make the best use of the windshield sunscreen) makes the car mostly bearable in the summer. Rolling all the windows down for the first few minutes of driving also helps with cooling the car down initially. But, then there's the question of whether to use the air conditioning recirculation feature when you first get into the car or not. I say not to, as the air inside the car is going to be hotter than the air outside of the car for at least the first few minutes. My father says the opposite. He's an autmotive engineer, but also has always lived in the north. I think this might be a question for the Car Talk guys.