09-24-12, 01:27 AM | #1 |
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Increasing fridge efficiency with PCMs
I have a few bottles of water in my fridge for volume reduction/thermal mass, but to take it a step further I've thought about phase change materials. A quick search found a bit of research done in this field. Here a few calculations show that PCMs can reduce energy consumption by 40%. The trick is to store as much "coolth" as possible at night when:
For more number crunching check out Phase Change Materials For Domestic Refrigerators To Improve Food Quality And Prolong Compressor Off Time. I also found another research paper with more good info, but it appears to have disappeared. The title is APPLICATION OF PHASE CHANGE MATERIALS TO DOMESTIC REFRIGERATORS by C. Marques et al., and I found it here. If it shows up again, or I find it elsewhere, then I'll post a summary. All of this research is very new, ie from the last 2 years, so this field of improving efficiency has some potential.
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Ecorenovation - the bottomless piggy bank that tries to tame the energy hog. |
The Following User Says Thank You to Piwoslaw For This Useful Post: | classradiance (09-28-12) |
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