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can they please ask whether it's silent? The major problem I have with refridgerators is that they are too loud and architects seem to have an obsession with de

can they please ask whether it's silent? The major problem I have with refridgerators is that they are too loud and architects seem to have an obsession with designing single room apartments. It's getting harder and harder to find a cheap apartment that doesn't force you to put your fridge into the same room where you sleep.

flaviut 4y ago
I've never had a loud refrigerator. However, my current refrigerator is an inverter refrigerator. It's particularly quiet, and seems to run 24/7 on a single lower power rather than on/off all the time.
- moloch-hai 4y ago
  The evaporation refrigerator, most commonly powered by natural gas or propane, most commonly seen in RVs and campers, is wholly silent and more reliable and efficient than the common electric compressor variety. It can of course work equally well driven electrically. That we ended up with compressor refrigerators getting the lion's share of benefit of mass production is a tragic accident of history: General Electric drove refrigeration into homes, and wanted to build electric motors.
  - sushibowl 4y ago
    My understanding is that absorption refrigerators fell out of favor because compressor refrigerators typically offer five times greater coefficient of performance. They can make sense if you have a good source of waste heat, but electricity is generally cheap in the home
    - mannykannot 4y ago
      I think that is true - domestic absorption refrigerators were not uncommon in the early 20th century. The development of reliable hermetically sealed compressors, greatly reducing the risk of refrigerant leaks, may have tipped the balance in favor of compression refrigeration. Interestingly, Albert Einstein and Leo Szilard made a foray into the field, patenting an electromagnetic refrigerator that was not commercially successful. https://invention.si.edu/einstein-szilard-refrigerator https://invention.si.edu/einstein-szilard-refrigerator Update: from a quick look at the patent referenced here, it seems to be a rather conventional heat-driven absorption refrigerator - the plot thickens! Update 2: The above article is conflating two different inventions. Einstein and Szilard also patented a compression refrigerator driven by a magneto-hydrodynamic pump of their invention, which used an internal liquid metal as its moving part and consequently required no seals to keep the refrigerant from leaking. It was far from being silent, however. http://www.physics.smu.edu/scalise/P3374fa16/EinsteinSzilardRefrigerators.pdf http://www.physics.smu.edu/scalise/P3374fa16/EinsteinSzilard...
  - driverdan 4y ago
    > and more reliable and efficient than the common electric compressor variety They are far less efficient than compressor refrigerators.
bamboozled 4y ago
This really sucks about Tokyo , nearly every apartment is similar, also heats the room
Schroedingersat 4y ago
TECs are silent. Wildly inefficient, but silent. If you're willing to deal with a chest-fridge built from a freezer it might be acceptable power consumption.
- PurplePanda 4y ago
  "Tech Ingredients" youtube channel built (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWUhwmmZa7A https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWUhwmmZa7A) and then tested (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cw8ipUYodkE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cw8ipUYodkE) such a thing.
  - Schroedingersat 4y ago
    Neat. Little bit frustrating that there was no input measurement. I strongly suspect you'd need very good insulation to make it viable. Edit: Watched the freezer video. Performance is predictably bad, but not as awful as one would expect. Might actually be a viable daily driver with thick enough insulation or vacuum panels.

flaviut 4y ago

I've never had a loud refrigerator. However, my current refrigerator is an inverter refrigerator. It's particularly quiet, and seems to run 24/7 on a single lower power rather than on/off all the time.

moloch-hai 4y ago
The evaporation refrigerator, most commonly powered by natural gas or propane, most commonly seen in RVs and campers, is wholly silent and more reliable and efficient than the common electric compressor variety. It can of course work equally well driven electrically. That we ended up with compressor refrigerators getting the lion's share of benefit of mass production is a tragic accident of history: General Electric drove refrigeration into homes, and wanted to build electric motors.
- sushibowl 4y ago
  My understanding is that absorption refrigerators fell out of favor because compressor refrigerators typically offer five times greater coefficient of performance. They can make sense if you have a good source of waste heat, but electricity is generally cheap in the home
  - mannykannot 4y ago
    I think that is true - domestic absorption refrigerators were not uncommon in the early 20th century. The development of reliable hermetically sealed compressors, greatly reducing the risk of refrigerant leaks, may have tipped the balance in favor of compression refrigeration. Interestingly, Albert Einstein and Leo Szilard made a foray into the field, patenting an electromagnetic refrigerator that was not commercially successful. https://invention.si.edu/einstein-szilard-refrigerator https://invention.si.edu/einstein-szilard-refrigerator Update: from a quick look at the patent referenced here, it seems to be a rather conventional heat-driven absorption refrigerator - the plot thickens! Update 2: The above article is conflating two different inventions. Einstein and Szilard also patented a compression refrigerator driven by a magneto-hydrodynamic pump of their invention, which used an internal liquid metal as its moving part and consequently required no seals to keep the refrigerant from leaking. It was far from being silent, however. http://www.physics.smu.edu/scalise/P3374fa16/EinsteinSzilardRefrigerators.pdf http://www.physics.smu.edu/scalise/P3374fa16/EinsteinSzilard...
- driverdan 4y ago
  > and more reliable and efficient than the common electric compressor variety They are far less efficient than compressor refrigerators.

bamboozled 4y ago

This really sucks about Tokyo , nearly every apartment is similar, also heats the room

Schroedingersat 4y ago

TECs are silent. Wildly inefficient, but silent. If you're willing to deal with a chest-fridge built from a freezer it might be acceptable power consumption.

PurplePanda 4y ago
"Tech Ingredients" youtube channel built (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWUhwmmZa7A https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWUhwmmZa7A) and then tested (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cw8ipUYodkE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cw8ipUYodkE) such a thing.
- Schroedingersat 4y ago
  Neat. Little bit frustrating that there was no input measurement. I strongly suspect you'd need very good insulation to make it viable. Edit: Watched the freezer video. Performance is predictably bad, but not as awful as one would expect. Might actually be a viable daily driver with thick enough insulation or vacuum panels.