The one constant throughout the year is that your refrigerator uses more energy than anything in your house. What do we use a refrigerator for anyway? Looking back at history it only really came into common use after WWII. Before that there were ice boxes, but those only exited for a relatively small time as well. Before that we simply did not use or need them. Many people simply had different practices. They would sometimes use spices to preserve things. They would go to market more often. They also practiced the art of canning. All of these things we can do today. Canning products are available today at just about any grocery store you go to. After making some observations I came to realize that about half of the refrigerator space is used for beverages. Do we need to refrigerate them? No. We only started drinking milk since about 1900. We could easily live on water only and be healthier for it. Guess what? Water does not need to be refrigerated! You certainly do not need a steady diet of pop in your life. The rest of the items could be purchase more often or you could buy different items that can be stored longer in a cabinet such as canned ravioli for example. If you do have to use a refrigerator, maybe you can buy one that runs off of propane. It is cleaner for the environment and will save you a lot of money in the long run. I believe most if not all of the original models of refrigerators ran this way. This picture is a propane gas refrigerator.