zlacker

>>anothe+(OP)
One of the worst offenses I've ever seen as an example of this is this trend with newer refrigerators (which I'm sure will brick after 2-3 years when the manufacturer stops supporting the software) where they have a camera inside that projects to a screen on the door. Cool, you can see what food is inside the refrigerator!

Do you know how else you can do that? by opening the door. We need to stop "innovating" features that absolutely no one needs, because clearly the result isn't a better product, just a messier, more complex one that is frequently over-engineered and under-supported.

>>JohnMa+5W1
Is it local only? It would be pretty handy if you could check while you were at the grocery store, I don't always plan my shopping list in advance so it'd be helpful to check things like "How much butter do I have" or "how full is the milk".

I thought there would also be electricity usage benefits but after looking at people online who have crunched the #s that might be negligible.

>>Rebelg+y72
If you want your refrigerator and freezer to save energy then make sure there is as little empty space in them as is possible. It makes the entire system more efficient, stable, and reduces the impact of opening the door.

>>akira2+es2
The only part of that which is true is the bit about opening the door, since there's a smaller volume of air which can mix with the outside air.

That said it makes such a small difference that it's really not worth worrying about, in fact you might lose more energy keeping the door open longer to find the thing you want in your packed fridge.