How Do Refrigerators Work?

 

Refrigerators are a modern luxury – they work around the clock to keep our food fresh and our beverages refreshing. Even though we use ours several times each day, the refrigerator is as under-appreciated as it gets. If you are interested in learning more about the science of household refrigeration, Speedy Subzero has put together this short guide explaining how refrigerators work, with some help from Buzzle.

Before you learn about how your refrigerator works, it is necessary to understand two scientific principles:

1. Gas cools down as it expands.
2. When two surfaces of different temperatures come in contact, the warmer surface cools down and the cooler surface warms up.

Knowing these two points, we can now illustrate how the household refrigerator keeps your food cold.

1. The refrigerant inside your refrigerator's tubes, currently in a gaseous state, passes through the compressor. This causes its temperature to rise.
2. The refrigerant moves through internal pipes and loses some of its heat through exhaust fins in the back of the unit.
3. The refrigerant reaches the condenser where its temperature is reduced and it turns into a liquid.
4. The liquid refrigerant flows through the expansion valve, causing some of the liquid to evaporate and expand, further lowering the temperature.
5. As the refrigerant continues to make its way through your refrigerator, it absorbs the heat from your food (remember principle #2) and turns back into a gas.
6. The gas is sucked back in to the compressor where the cycle starts all over.

At Speedy Subzero, our expert technicians know refrigerators inside and out. We know what each component is responsible for, how they work together, and most importantly, how to fix them when they malfunction. If you live in New York and suspect your refrigerator is broken, call us any time for a same-day appointment at 866-782-9376.