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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 low

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.

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.