Interesting Refrigerator Facts

Fridge Fact:

A refrigerator typically accounts for around 10% of a home's power bill. About 1/3 of a refrigerator's cold air can escape when the door is open, which is why a closed door keeps energy costs down. So does using energy-efficient appliances: an ENERGY STAR refrigerator uses less power than a 75-watt light bulb.

Fridge Fact:

Salt water, commonly known as brine, is sometimes used as a food preservative and refrigerant. Medieval peoples discovered that brine absorbs heat as it evaporates, and placed containers in brine to keep them cool. In America, meatpacking got its name in the 118th century because workers packed meat into brine barrels.

Fridge Fact:

November 14th is National Clean Out Your Refrigerator day. Fresh foods should be kept only one to two days in a refrigerator. Cooked meats can be stored for three to four days. To keep food longer, wrap it in airtight foil or plastic wrap after use and store at a temperature below 40 degrees F.

Fridge Fact:

Did you know that Albert Einstein co-invented a refrigerator? He and his former student Leo Szilard received a patent for it in 1930. Coolants used at the time could be toxic, and Einstein got the idea for a simple, single-pressure absorption refrigerator when he read about a sleeping family killed by leaking refrigerator coolant.

Fridge Fact:

The first household refrigerator produced by General Electric in 1911 was based on a design by a French Cistercian monk and physics teacher named Marcel Audiffren. The monk's sulfur dioxide refrigerating process took the form of a wooden refrigerator named the Audiffren. It cost $1000, which was twice as much as an automobile.

Fridge Fact:

Freon was the primary refrigerator coolant for many years. However, Freon has been banned as a refrigerator coolant because of its ozone depletion potential. The newer coolants are known by the acronym HCFC, which stands for hydrochlorofluorocarbon, plus a number. Two refrigerator coolants in current use are HCFC-22 and HCFC-142b.

Fridge Fact:

Older refrigerators must be disposed of properly because of the environmentally damaging materials they contain. Old refrigerators with Freon coolant and CFC-bearing insulation are of particular concern. To ensure your old refrigerator is disposed of safely and legally, contact your local utility company or locate an appliance recycler in your area.

Fridge Fact:

A crisper is a refrigerator drawer or compartment used to keep vegetables and fruit fresh and "crisp" (thus the name). Crispers work by maintaining humidity levels suitable for fresh vegetables and fruit. For healthier and better tasting produce, choose a refrigerator that has a crisper with separate temperature and moisture controls.

Fridge Fact:

In 2006, nanotechnology researchers at the University of Alabama and Belgium's Hasselt University proposed an idea for the world's smallest refrigerator. Known as a Brownian refrigerator, the molecular-scale device would theoretically be used to keep nanoscale machines cool and control temperatures during molecular biology experiments (it would be far too small for leftovers).

Fridge Fact:

Most people have a refrigerator magnet or two. Louise J. Greenfarb of Henderson, Nevada, has over 32,000 different refrigerator magnets. She is appropriately known as "The Magnet Lady." Her collection was declared the world's largest by the Guinness Book of World Records. Over 7,000 of her magnets can be seen at the Guinness Museum in Las Vegas.

Fridge Fact:

Refrigeration might not seem very cinematic, but there have been a few movies on the topic. The 1938 film White Banners is about an amateur inventor who creates a refrigerator. And in the words of author Paul Theroux, the 1986 film The Mosquito Coast is about a man who "moved to the jungle and built a giant refrigerator."

Fridge Fact:

Portable refrigerators are useful appliances to have on road-trip vacations or camping and fishing expeditions. Probably the best portable refrigerators are absorption refrigerators. They use ammonia as a coolant and water and hydrogen gas to create a refrigeration cycle. Absorption refrigerators are fueled by burning gas, propane, or kerosene.

Fridge Fact:

Cleaning the condenser coils regularly is a simple thing you can do to keep your refrigerator running efficiently. The condenser coils are where heat is expelled from the refrigerator to the outside air. Look for the condenser coils either up and down the back of your refrigerator or front to back beneath it.

Fridge Fact:

The refrigeration cycle is the process that keeps the food in a refrigerator cold. As the refrigerant or coolant moves through the appliance's cooling system, it changes from a liquid to a vapor and back again, absorbing heat from inside the refrigerator and expelling it through coils into the outside air.

Fridge Fact:

About 15% of American households contain two refrigerators. The second refrigerator is often an older, inefficient model kept for extra food storage in the garage or basement. Today's ENERGY STAR refrigerators are so energy-efficient that replacing two old refrigerators with one large new appliance could reduce your power bill without sacrificing storage space.

Fridge Fact:

Over 8 million refrigerators are sold each year in the U.S. About 70% of them are top mount, i.e. freezer on top and fridge on bottom. One-quarter are side-by-side refrigerators, which use more energy than top mount models. Less than 5% are bottom mount refrigerators in which the freezer is located below the fridge.

Fridge Fact:

In order to receive the ENERGY STAR rating, refrigerators must use at least 15% less energy than required by current federal standards (with freezers, it's 10%). Compact ENERGY STAR refrigerators (those with volume of 7.75 cubic feet or less) must use 20% less energy than standard models.

Fridge Fact:

Automatic defrost refrigerators should be maintained through an annual maintenance schedule. The drain pan beneath the refrigerator should be cleaned along with the cooling fan and condenser coils. Check that the door seals are closing properly against the frame. Inspect the freezer for indications of abnormal frost buildup, and replace the icemaker water filter.

Fridge Fact:

The mini fridge has been a frequent source of inspiration for modern inventors. In 2004, Olaf Diegel, a diabetic, invented a pocket-sized refrigerator for carrying insulin on trips. And in 2007, Duke University engineering graduate John Cornwell invented a mini fridge with a remote-controlled beer can extractor and catapult.

Fridge Fact:

The world's largest refrigerator is a 27-kilometer cryogenic distribution line on the Franco-Swiss border west of Geneva. It was built for use in the LHC tunnel (Large Hadron Collider project), a particle accelerator that will enable scientists to recreate the conditions in the universe just after the Big Bang.