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One house item which shows no progress on the green side is the refrigerator. Obviously it should be a split system: fridge is inside and heat exchange outside
by vl 16y ago
One house item which shows no progress on the green side is the refrigerator. Obviously it should be a split system: fridge is inside and heat exchange outside the house. If it's hot outside, I don't want fridge to heat up air inside the house so then my AC has to cool it (an you know, my house has quite limited AC capacity). If it's cold outside, I don't want fridge to consume energy - just dump excessive heat outside. It puzzles me for years why with all this green movement I haven't seen a single split fridge yet.
- davidxa 16y agoThe problem with this is that it isn't as flexible as a normal frige, it basically has to be built into the house. Also, if you don't have it next to a exterior wall, you have to pipe the coolant through the walls or floors. It's a great idea, but it requires a major redesign of the refrigerator, and means you can't easily get a new one if it breaks or you want it bigger or smaller.
- vl 16y agoYep, it's not easy, but this problem is already solved with split ACs. While they do require drilling the wall, some people still prefer them to the in-window units.
- cool-RR 16y agoI thought about this too. It would be really nice if there was a central compressor that will pump that cold gas into ACs and refrigerators of multiple homes. I think that will be a lot greener than the other stuff suggested by Scott Adams.
- Kliment 16y agoFinland is now doing that for industry and warehouse refrigeration, and for some large retailers too. It might eventually find its way into homes too.
- Ras_ 16y agoFinnish retailers are also converting en masse to refrigeration units which have a cover/door. It is a big investment to convert, but it also saves about 35% of the energy. All new installs are of course with the doors.
- relix 16y agoExcept you're just turning the problem around. While now, if it's hot outside, the fridge heats up the air in the house, just like you said. With your system, if it's cold outside, the fridge cools down the air in the house (since the heat extracted from inside the fridge comes from the air inside the house, which is heated by your central heating system). You're losing energy either way.
- vl 16y agoYep, it's not ideal in the cold weather, but presumably split-system fridge itself is well insulated and thus not cooling the house interior significantly. And house heating system is capable of delivering heat to the right places more efficiently than in the case of traditional fridge "we heat the kitchen because that's where the back wall of the fridge is." But of course only real modeling and prototyping will tell for sure.
- relix 16y agoAgreed, heating is much more efficient than cooling anyway, so you'd still get a profit with your system, even though your heating exoenses might rise just a bit.