How much is that fridge costing? Apparently as fridges get older they become much less efficient. In a more rational world, we might have MOT-type tests to check whether the fridge is still environment-worthy, and fridge maintenance teams to fix it if not. Perhaps they would come and top up the refrigerant or change the seal around the door.
At the moment if we want to do something about it, the only choice we have is to get a new one, and when we do, this is up to chance, how long we've had it and what's growing inside or whether it matches the wallpaper.
And maybe the argument that new fridges are much more efficient than old ones is just propganda from the manufacturers to get us to buy more fridges, and in fact the energy and resources used to make a new one are equivalent to several decades of running costs keeping the old one off a scrap heap.
Anyway, here's something that should be cheaply and widely available. A watt metre that you can plug any appliance into, that will keep track of how much electricity it is using.
http://store.shopping.yahoo.co.jp/dejima/44135.html
At 3,150 yen, I'm not sure how long it would take to pay for itself though.
