| [ | Date | | | 2025-01-08 16:08 -0500 | ] |
In late 2024, my fridge’s compressor failed. It had only been in service for a bit less than four years at that point, which seemed a bit short for it to fail. The technician who made the repair mentioned that this may have been caused by insufficient airflow around the fridge, causing it to overheat.
I proceeded to ensure that my repaired fridge was at the manufacturer’s recommended distance from the back wall and other parts of its enclosure. Wondering if, additionally, actively helping the air flow would be productive, I mounted a pair of small fans pulling air from the back of the fridge at the top, pushing it toward the front and into the kitchen. The fans were running every other day (odd days); the idea being that doing that would help other parameters cancel out (e.g., loading grocery, room temperature fluctuations).
After four weeks of measurements starting on 2024-12-01, I got this data:
| Measurement | Fan off | Fan on |
|---|---|---|
| Avg power (W) | 75.1 | 75.3 |
| Avg temp, bottom (°C) | 24.2 | 23.9 |
| Avg temp, top (°C) | 26.0 | 23.4 |
Conclusions:
Using the fans doesn’t change how much power the fridge itself consumes. Since the fans themselves consume about 3.5W, they are probably a waste of energy.
The fans do lower the temperature measured on top of the fridge, but don’t do a lot to the average temperature at the bottom.
Quick links:
David Haguenauer
<www@kurokatta.org>
$Id: fridge-air-flow.malblog,v 1.3 2025/02/28 04:53:59 homer Exp $