Refrigerator-Guide.Com

Your Guide To Selecting, Using and Maintaining Refrigerator

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About Refrigerator

Imagine a life without refrigerators.  We'd be throwing away our leftovers instead of saving them for another meal.  We would have to rear cows ourselves as we wouldn't be able to store milk.  We would have to grow our own vegetables if we want constant fresh supply.  Meat would have to be preserved with salt.

Refrigerators have changed our lifestyles and save us money in the process.  Today we are spoilt with choices as to which type of refrigerator to buy.  This can indeed be a headache. 

Given that refrigerators are big ticket items for any household, it is important for us to understand how to maintain it in order for it to serve us longer while preserving their efficiency.

Here at refrigerator-guide.com, we will provide you with useful information on how refrigerator works, how to choose the right refrigerator, and how to maintain plus caring tips to preserve your refrigerator.

Refrigerator Parts

There are basically 5 parts to any refrigerator:

• Compressor.
• Heat-exchange pipes - serpentine or coiled set of pipes outside the unit.
• Expansion valve.
• Heat-exchange pipes - serpentine or coiled set of pipes inside the unit.
• Refrigerant - the liquid that evaporates inside the refrigerator to create the cold temperature.

How Refrigerator Works?

The main objective of having a refrigerator is to keep food cold enough thereby causing the bacteria to be inactive. Thus, this prolongs the period for the food to stay fresh.  Refrigerator uses the concept of evaporation of liquid to absorb heat.  This is like the way when water or sweat on our skin evaporates to make us feel cold.  The liquid in a refrigerator evaporates at an extremely low temperature to create freezing temperature inside the refrigerator.

Refrigerants in Refrigerator

Refrigerant known as CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons) was developed  as a non-toxic replacement for ammonia.  CFC-12 has about the same boiling point as ammonia.  Unlike ammonia, CFC-12 is not toxic to human and is safe for use in kitchen.

In the 1970s, it was however discovered that CFCs were harmful to the earth ozone layer.  Since then, CFCs have been replaced by the less harmful  HCFC (hydrochlorofluorocarbon).  However, HCFC will soon be phased out by chlorine-free refrigerant, known as HFCs (hydrofluorocarbons).  Apparently, it is the chlorine element that causes the depletion of the ozone layer.