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What a waste of energy, what a destruction of resources, what a needless cause of toxic materials in landfills. Shame on everyone involved.
by johnnyworker 3y ago
What a waste of energy, what a destruction of resources, what a needless cause of toxic materials in landfills. Shame on everyone involved.
- nicoburns 3y agoIf they enable thicker insulation, it’s possible this may actually save power. Thas the only I can think for doing this.
- seszett 3y agoThat's what I thought at first but since they use transparent doors (covered by the screens) for the inside-facing cameras, they are really nothing more than an added heat source close to the coolers.
- Symbiote 3y agoAn opaque door and a cardboard printout could achieve that.
- rglullis 3y agoYou know what else enables thicker insulation and doesn't require a computer screen and e-waste? Thicker insulation.
- MichaelZuo 3y agoIt's not feasible to make glass doors on coolers much thicker, or else they'd be too heavy to move for a significant portion of the population without a motor or hydraulics.
- briHass 3y agoInsulating glass better doesn't usually involve making the glass thicker; glass is a reasonably good heat conductor. It usually involves more, thinner sheets of glass stacked with air gaps between them. Argon is often used instead of air (nitrogen/oxygen) because it is a better insulator.
- MichaelZuo 3y agoAdding extra layers of glass increases the thickness and weight of the entire glass assembly, which is colloquially what we refer to as glass thickness in North America. Maybe it's different from where your from?
- verinus 3y agowell in here in Austria we have tripple-glass-sheet windows that can be easily opened...
- ImPostingOnHN 3y agoAs someone from and in North America, we don't usually refer to multi-layered thin glass as "thick" glass, we call it "double pane" or something similar. Particularly since it's much lighter than an actual, single glass pane of equal thickness, which is the point here: the weight wouldn't be an issue, and even if it was, the screen is far, far heavier than better insulation.
- MichaelZuo 3y agoIt seems your a bit confused? A solid pane literally equal in thickness with a typical double pane assembly would practically only ever be used for much higher end products, like armored cars and so on. No one serious would ever consider it for normal commercial coolers. And the vast majority as of 2023 already use double paned glass, so comparing this at all seems irrelevant. You don't need to have expert knowledge to insist on your own opinions, but presenting amateur knowledge as if it was doesn't help the discussion. I would recommend studying industry publications if your genuinely curious about this field.
- ImPostingOnHN 3y agoIt seems you are confused, of course thick glass is used less frequently than double pane glass, but that doesn't mean we call the latter by the former in North America. Recall that the topic was your suggestion that "It's not feasible to make glass doors on coolers much thicker", which given this new information, doesn't seem true. Indeed, these screens are a second layer of glass stuck on the existing glass cooler door, with electronics in between. That's heavier than the same thing with air in between.
- bombcar 3y agoYou can make incredibly heavy doors that are quite easy to open, it just costs money to design the hinges. If you really want to be energy efficient, you'd switch to chest freezers/coolers, as they don't "spill" all the "cold" every time you open them. Or at least doors where you can open the top or bottom half instead of the whole door. But the energy expended is likely quite small, much less than the energy expended in upgrading anything.
- MichaelZuo 3y agoScreens and thicker plain old insulation are likely cheaper and less energy intensive then fancy glass doors on fancy hinges. Whether or not this kind of change is a smart move in the first place is a different discussion.
- ImPostingOnHN 3y agoif they can move a thicker door with a giant screen on it, they can move a thicker door without a giant screen on it
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- queuebert 3y agoWhen do we get our transparent aluminum? I was promised it with Star Trek IV.
- archi42 3y agoA screen+camera would actually enable insanely good insulation, compared to glass. A 4cm/1.6" PUR sheet weights next to nothing and has a thermal transmittance (aka u-value) of 0.4 W/(m²K). That's about twice as good as modern, triple glazed windows.
- diggan 3y agoExcept they also add a heat source (the screens themselves) right next to/in the fridge.
- strych9 3y agoYet we, the average person, are supposed to be concerned with the environment while corporate ogres play frivolous games like selling “Cooler Screens”. I say fuck it, burn it all down, we are doomed and being sold a lie.
- briHass 3y ago100s of pounds of e-waste that will be headed for the landfills in a year or two when these inevitably break. But don't worry, Walgreens no longer uses plastic bags, because they care about the earth.
- Nition 3y agoThousands. Article says they installed over 10,300 screens before realising they're terrible.
- BlueTemplar 3y agoYeah, and it's like they deliberately set themselves up for failure too ?! The way they engineered it is a bit like strapping a diesel generator on the top of an electric car as a promise to increase range... but a very inefficient one that weighs almost as much as the car itself. P.S.: Coolers I can understand, but how come freezers use glass doors rather than a real insulator ? (+ printed out list of contents... now here might be an opportunity for minimal functionality, low power, e-paper displays ?)
- amluto 3y agoUsing glass may save energy. Keep in mind that store fridges and freezers are opened a lot. If you can see through the door to what you’re trying to grab, you may be able to grab it faster, thus enabling you to close the door faster.