OT-88-14-2 -- Effects of Ambient Temperature, Ambient Humidity, and Door Openings on Energy Consumption of a Household Refrigerator-Freezer PDF

The current U.S. standard for rating performance of household refrigerator-freezers does not directly address the effects of such factors as door openings, ambient humidity, and food loads. To investigate some of these effects, experiments were conducted with a test refrigerator under conditions of different ambient temperatures and ambient humidities and various compartment door-opening patterns. Daily energy consumption values were obtained for each test and compared with those obtained by executing both the U.S. and Japanese standard test procedures. In addition, humidity and temperature measurements were obtained inside the food compartments during the door opening process. A simple heat and mass transfer model was developed in parallel with the laboratory work. Model predictions were used to identify the significance of each contribution to the refrigerator’s energy consumption.

Units: Dual