NBC Hydro estimates that there are secondary or spare fridges in nearly 40 per cent of homes throughout B.C. These unused or underused fridges cost homeowners more than $34 million a year in electricity costs.
Refrigerators are one of the most energy consuming appliances in a home as they run 24 hours a day. One fridge alone costs customers up to $90 a year in electrical costs to use. Almost 380,000 B.C. households keep an extra fridge.
Through the Refrigerator Buy-Back program, BC Hydro is offering to collect and recycle spare fridges free-of-charge for residential customers, and rewards them for it. Customers can save the expense of recycling an old spare fridge, and receive a $30 credit on their electricity bill.
If all the secondary fridges in B.C. homes were recycled, there would be enough energy saved to power all the homes in a city the size of Chilliwack for an entire year.
The Refrigerator Buy-Back program has collected nearly 375,000 fridges since it began in 2003. To register for pickup, customers can complete the Fridge Buy-Back application online.
BC Hydro has been providing clean, reliable power to British Columbians for more than 50 years while maintaining among the lowest rates in North America. BC Hydro is a provincial Crown corporation that serves 1.9 million customers and invests in the electrical system and in energy conservation to deliver a safe and reliable supply of electricity for today’s customers and for generations to come.