냉장고의 원리, Principles of Refrigerator

근본적으로는 에어컨의 원리와 같다. 따라서 자세한 설명은 에어컨/원리와 구조 문서를 참고하는 것이 좋다. 액체 상태의 냉매가 기기 안에 설치된 응축기와 증발기를 순환하면서 액화와 기화를 반복하고, 기화를 위해 열을 흡수하기 때문에 냉장고 안이 차가워지고, 기화된 냉매는 응축기에서 압력을 받아 다시 액화되면서 기기 밖으로 열을 방출하는 원리.

냉장고의 냉기로 냉방을 하는 건 불가능에 가깝다. 에어컨은 방 안의 열을 흡수한 다음 실외기에서 방 밖으로 배출하도록 되어 있지만, 냉장고는 실외기가 없이 흡수한 열을 그냥 뿜어낸다. 냉장고 문을 열어놓고 가동시키면 냉기를 뿜어내는 만큼 열기도 뿜어내는데다가, 사용한 전력만큼 더 더워진다. 정 하고싶다면 적당한 사이즈의 냉장고를 창틀 등에 올려서 후면의 라디에이터를 밖으로 빼고 찬 공기만 안으로 넣으면 되긴 하는데, 앞뒤로 넘어갈 위험도 크고 애초에 냉장고의 냉방능력은 에어컨에 비해 매우 낮아 이렇게 설치한다고 해도 별로 시원해지지 않는다.

에어컨의 전기소모량이 엄청난 만큼 냉장고의 전기소모량도 많을 것이라고 생각하는 사람들이 있는데, 단열이 잘 되어 있는 좁은 공간을 국부적으로 냉각하는 특성상 생각보다 크지 않다. 누진요금제와 하루 종일가동하는 특성 때문에 일반 가정의 전기요금에서 차지하는 비율은 높지만, 1년 365일 24시간 내내 가동하는 것을 고려하면 순간소비량은 큰 편이 아니다. 업소용 500L짜리 수평냉동고조차도 가동시 300W가 안되며 요즘 판매되는 가정용 냉장고는 가동시 150W 이하이다. 콤프레셔의 발달로 1990년대 초반에 견주면 2018년 기준 같은 용량 대비 전력소모가 반으로 줄었다. 이 또한 냉각기가 작동 중일때의 소비전력인데다 정상적인 상황이라면 냉각기가 항상 돌지는 않기 때문에 실제 전력소비량은 이보다 훨씬 적은 것이다.

 

 

 

Fundamentally, it is the same as the air conditioner principle. Therefore, it is better to refer to the air conditioner/principle and structure document for detailed explanation. The principle is that the liquid refrigerant circulates between the condenser and the evaporator installed in the device, repeats liquefaction and vaporization, and absorbs heat for vaporization, so the inside of the refrigerator becomes cold, and the vaporized refrigerant is liquefied again under pressure from the condenser to release heat out of the device.

Cooling the refrigerator with cold air is nearly impossible. The air conditioner absorbs heat in the room and then exits the room from the outdoor unit, but the refrigerator simply emits the absorbed heat without an outdoor unit. When the refrigerator door is opened and operated, it emits as much heat as it emits cold air and becomes hotter as much as the electric power used. If you want to decide, place a suitable size refrigerator on the back of the window frame to remove the radiator from the rear and put only cold air into it. There is a high risk of falling back and forth, and the cooling capacity of the refrigerator is very low compared to that of the air conditioner in the first place, so even if you install it like this, it is not very cool.

Some people think that the electricity consumption of the air conditioner will be high as much as the electricity consumption of the air conditioner is enormous, but it is not as large as expected due to the local cooling of a well-insulated small space. Due to the progressive rate system and the nature of operating all day, the proportion of electricity bills in ordinary households is high, but considering that it operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, instantaneous consumption is not large. Even a commercial 500L horizontal freezer does not operate at 300W, and household refrigerators sold these days are less than 150W when operating. The power consumption was halved compared to the same capacity in 2018 due to the development of compressors in the early 1990s. This is also much lower than the actual power consumption because it is the power consumption when the cooler is operating, and under normal conditions, the cooler does not always rotate.