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Components of a Refrigerator

The refrigerator is an important appliance in all homes because it gives you the ability to keep foods fresh longer. The invention of the refrigerator meant people could go to the grocery store less often and store foods for later use at home. Before this method of temporary food preservation, shoppers would have to buy perishable food items shortly before use. Today, a whole week's shopping can be done in a single day because of this appliance. Refrigerators work using several common components.

Compressor

The compressor is the cooling engine of the refrigerator. This device is located either at the bottom of the refrigerator at the back of the unit or on top of the refrigerator. The compressor compresses the refrigerant to make it a high-pressure gas whenever the thermostat calls for cooling in the system. It runs quietly and sends the refrigerant into the condenser.

Condenser

The condenser is one of the easiest components to spot on a refrigerator. It is a large grid of coils often on the back or underneath the refrigerator accompanied by a cooling fan that draws air over the coils to help them dissipate heat, according to the Repair Clinic website. The condenser's job is to act as a vessel for the refrigerant to travel through, transforming the high-pressure gas into a liquid.
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Evaporator

After the refrigerant passes through the condenser and transforms into liquid it passes through a metering device and into the condenser. The condenser provides more space for the refrigerant, which allows it to return to a gaseous state. This causes rapid cooling and causes moisture to freeze on the evaporator. A fan circulates the resulting cold air throughout the refrigerator. The evaporator on most refrigerators is located inside the freezer compartment if it is a combination unit. Otherwise, it is located inside the main refrigerator compartment.

Defrost System

The frost build up on the evaporator would get excessive if not for the automatic defrost system. Icing could result and cause other problems. But the defrost system keeps frost and ice from getting out of hand by regularly melting it. The defrost system is made up of three main parts. A timer signals the heating coil in regular intervals to begin heating, which melts off the frost. Once the temperature rises above freezing, a temperature sensor signals the heater to shut down, which allows the system to cool normally again.

Thermostat

The refrigerator's thermostat is a simple device that senses the internal temperature of the main compartment. Owners set a dial on the thermostat to indicate the

cooling level they desire. This is usually somewhere between 32 and 38 degrees Fahrenheit in the main compartment. The thermostat stops power to the compressor when the temperature drops below the desired setting.

Ice Maker

Most of today's refrigerators have a built-in ice maker. This component means no more ice trays in the freezer. A constant water supply fills cube molds and then the ice maker ejects the frozen cubes and refills periodically.

Most Common Types of Refrigerators


While picking a refrigerator, it is important to keep in mind the space you have, your budget, your cooking habits as well as your lifestyle. Here is a list of the various types of refrigerators commonly used. Top Freezer refrigerators These are the most traditionally used types of refrigerators. They are available in the most number of styles and colors. Top mounted freezers also have a range of prices and features. Some of the newer models also offer ice as well as filtered water dispensers. Because of their configuration, top mounted freezers typically have the most amount of storage space. Eye level freezer space, makes it easy to view and access the food stored in the freezer. They also cost the least of all the types available on the market. One of the main disadvantages of having this type of a freezer is that you have to bend to reach the bottom shelves and drawers that are used more frequently. Bottom Freezer refrigerators Bottom mount freezers are becoming popular among homeowners. Even though there are not as many models currently available in the market, most of the major manufacturers are jumping right in. Widths typically run from 30 to 36 inches. However, these types of freezers offer less storage space than the top mount ones. Bottom freezers offer the convenience of having more commonly used fresh food stored at eye-level. The drawback is that you have to bend to reach the freezer, also these models do not offer ice and water dispensers yet. Side-by-side refrigerators Many homeowners opt for a side by side due to space constraints. A full length vertical side-by-side will have the freezer on one side and the refrigerator on the other. The advantage to this is that you will not let the cold air out when you open the refrigerator side. Side-by-side refrigerators typically come with ice and water dispensers as well as temperature controlled bins. The narrow doors are a big plus for kitchens with space constraints. Make sure that you get a model with adjustable bins so that you can configure the interior space to fit your

needs. On the minus side, these refrigerators are not the best in terms of usable storage space. Also since the compartments are narrower, it is hard to fit wide items such as pizza boxes so this should be considered before getting a refrigerator of this type. Built-in refrigerators For homeowners who have a budget and want the wow factor, built-in refrigerators are a perfect fit. Built-in are more stylish than functional and are available in both bottom freezer and side-by-side options. These refrigerators are designed to be aesthetically pleasing and thus come in a variety of colors and finishes to match the rest of your kitchen. On the flip side, as these refrigerators are relatively shallow they offer the least amount of usable storage space. They can be repair prone and with the high initial investment can prove to be quiet costly in the long run. Cabinet-depth refrigerators Cabinet-depth refrigerators are free standing models that have been built to a relatively shallower depth. These refrigerators are designed to achieve the aesthetics of built-in models at a lesser cost. They are relatively shallow and accept panels for the desired look. Most of these models are available as side-by-side doors, but if needed the homeowner can also get French door models, top-mount freezers as well as bottom mount freezers. Despite the obvious aesthetic advantages, cabinet-depth refrigerators have much less usable space with more cost than other free standing models. Drawer type refrigerators At about $2500 a pop you can now store your soda cans or snacks under your kitchen counter. Refrigerator drawers are the latest in kitchen luxuries. They do not cost much to run as they are quiet small and can store only a limited number of items. But the high initial cost coupled with small storage space makes them inefficient in the long run.

Types of refrigerator
Updated On 06 Oct 2008, Published On 06 Oct 2008

All of us know what a refrigerator is. In short, it is also called as fridge and is popularly known by this name. The main purpose of using a refrigerator is to store food and protect it from spoiling due to bacterial growth. The refrigerator is the modern replacement of the icebox which was earlier used to store food. And this is one reason why it is also sometimes referred to as icebox. Today, with the advancement in technology, refrigerators are available in different makes and models.

A refrigerator maintains the temperature slightly higher than the freezing point of the water. There is also a device known as the Freezer which maintains the temperature below the freezing point of water. As far as the types of refrigerators are concerned, it can be widely classified into four types. They are Top-Mount freezer refrigerator, Side-by-side refrigerators, Freezer on bottom and French door refrigerators.

The most common type of refrigerator is the Top-Mount Refrigerator.This fridge is the least expensive and is a refrigerator which does not require much repair. The best part of this refrigerator is that it tend to have wider shelves in both the freezer and fridge. In this refrigerator, the freezer is placed at the eye level offering easy access to the food stored. Generally the height of the freezer varies in between 60-69 inches, which is why they tend to offer more storage capacity as compared to the other models.

Side-by-side Mount refrigerators are more expensive as compared to the Top Freezer Refrigerator. This refrigerator is more advanced with features such as through the door cool water dispenser. With the freezer and the fridge being adjacent to each other, it allows easy access to food items that are stored. However, this refrigerator has its own disadvantage. Apart from being expensive, it tends to occupy much space in the kitchen area as both the doors need to be open. Also, the compartments are narrower and it does not fit in larger and bulky items. Though, this refrigerator is energy star rated yet it is not really energy efficient.

Bottom Mount Freezers or Freezer on Bottom Refrigerators are not widely available models. For those who want fresh food selection at eye level, this model is most suitable for their household. The configuration is similar to that of the Top Mounted Freezer Refrigerators and the cooling is more even. It does not use much energy to keep the section cool.

French door Refrigerator is a refrigerator which has been designed based on the style of Bottom Mount and Side-by-Side Refrigerator. The Refrigerator has dual doors and a pull out freezer drawer. This refrigerator makes up all the disadvantages of a Side-bySide refrigerator along with the features of it. This model allows you to open only one side of the door which lessens the amount of cool air that escapes. The compartments are also spacious and allow you to fit large and bulky items.

An air conditioner (often referred to as AC) is a home appliance, system, or mechanismdesigned to dehumidify and extract heat from an area. The cooling is done using a simplerefrigeration cycle. In construction, a complete system of heating, ventilation and air conditioning is referred to as "HVAC"

Air conditioner evaporator is a heat exchange. It takes in low temperature, low-pressure liquid refrigerant from the expansion device and changes it into low-pressure, low temperature vapor refrigerant. Evaporator coil is the components that add heat to the air conditioner units. * Notes: refrigeration is the process of removing heat from one area where it is undesirable to an area where it is not significant. For this process to work heat has to flow from one area (medium) to another. To make heat flows, one of the mediums has to be at a higher temperature. Since, heat always flows from a high intensity to a low intensity. Types of air conditioner evaporator: 1. Director-expansion or Air-cooled Evaporator 2. Flooded evaporators How does air conditioning evaporator works? Air conditioning evaporator works by absorb heat from the area (medium) that need to be cooled. It does that by maintaining the evaporator coil at low temperature and pressure than the surrounding air. Since, the AC evaporator coil contains refrigerant that absorbs heat from the surrounding air, the refrigerant temperature must be lower than the air. The expansion device provides a pressure reduces between the high side and the low side of the system, the saturation temperature of the refrigerant entering the air conditioning evaporator is lower than the medium to be cooled. One of the characteristic of a ac refrigerant is that as the pressure is reduced the boiling point is also reduced. Therefore, as the pressure is reduced through the expansion device so is the point at which it will boil and become a vapor. As the warm air from the space passes over the evaporator coil, it gives up its heat to the lower temperature liquid/vapor mixture passing through the evaporator. As the liquid refrigerant absorbs this heat it boils changing from the liquid state to the vapor state. The amount of heat the air conditioner evaporator absorbs must equal the amount of heat it lost For instance, if the air conditioning evaporator gives up 100 Btus of heat to the surrounding hot air, then the refrigerant within the air conditioning evaporator coil must gain 100 Btus of heat. The amount of liquid entering the evaporator must be enough, so by the time it reaches the end of the evaporator. It will be completely boiled to the vapor state. There must be enough air flows across the AC evaporator coil to provides heat to the refrigerant in the evaporator coil. This is just a safety way to ensure the air conditioner compressor doesnt have the liquid refrigerant entering it.

Air conditioning evaporator picture above tells us what happen to the evaporator coil. The air conditioning evaporator coil absorbs heat into the refrigerant from the warmer air passing over the surface of the evaporator coil. The heat absorbed causes the liquid refrigerant to boil, changing it from a liquid state to a vapor state. Types of air conditioning evaporator coil: 1. Bare-tube coils 2. Finned-tube coils

3. Flat-plate coils

Types of air conditioner


Air conditioners

Some portable models are little more than personal coolers. Others can cool a small room (up to about 20 square meters). Portable units can be plugged into a normal power point. Expect to pay around $800 to $3000. A wall/window model is usually installed in a window or external wall, and can cool rooms and open-plan areas of up to 50 square meters. While smaller units can be plugged into a normal power point, larger ones may require additional wiring. Prices range from about $500 to $3500. A split-system air conditioner consists of a compressor unit that's

installed outside, and one or more indoor air outlets. They'reusually used to heat & cool one or more rooms, or an open-plan area, of up to 60 square meters. They cost around $1200 to $5000.

A Ducted System is usually installed in the roof or outside on the ground, and ducted to air outlets throughout the house. Costs start from $5000.

Inverter technology: With conventional air conditioners, the compressor is either on (working to 100% capacity) or off. Inverters can vary the compressor speed and maintain the set temperature within a narrow range. Manufacturers claim inverter models are more efficient and reduce running costs. Cooling-only or reverse cycle: Reverse-cycle models only cost a bit more than cooling-only models, but you can also use them for heating in winter. While the purchase and installation costs can be high, reverse-cycle air conditioners are among the cheapest forms of heating to run. They cause less carbon dioxide to be produced in power plants burning fossil fuel than other kinds of electric heater

Evaporative coolers

If you live in a hot and dry climate, an evaporative cooler can be a cheaper alternative to

an air conditioner. Evaporative air coolers draw the hot air over a water reservoir. The water evaporates, absorbing heat from the air. The cooler, moist air is then blown into the room. Evaporative cooling only works well in dry inland climates

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