TIL my freezer seal was silently costing me $40 a month for over a year

I noticed my electric bill creeping up in March but blamed it on winter heating until my neighbor pointed out frost building up around the freezer door. Turns out the rubber gasket had a tiny gap letting cold air escape so the compressor was running almost nonstop. Has anyone else found a sneaky appliance issue that was draining their budget without obvious signs?

3 comments

3 Comments

stella_foster1mo ago

Oh for crying out loud, that's exactly what happened with my dryer. I kept wondering why clothes took three cycles to dry and my bill was climbing. Turned out the lint trap wasn't sealing right. Cost me about $30 more a month for almost a year before my son-in-law spotted it.

linda6261mo ago

Used to figure a lint trap was just a lint trap, you know? It either catches lint or it doesn't. Never occurred to me the seal could go bad and still let air sneak past. That $30 a month adds up fast, that's like a streaming subscription and a pizza. Makes me wonder what else I've been ignoring that's slowly draining money. Probably going to check all my appliance seals this weekend now. Thanks for pointing it out.

sanchez.sean1mo ago

Yeah, @stella_foster's comment made me rethink that too, always just assumed a lint trap either works or it doesn't.