# Is there data on how much heat a refrigerator gives off? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 13, 2009, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-data-on-how-much-heat-a-refrigerator-gives-off/509938 "2009-09-13T18:51:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![snailboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/97f17d/32.png) [@snailboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snailboy)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-data-on-how-much-heat-a-refrigerator-gives-off/509938/21 "2009-09-14T21:54:58Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > Which, coincidentally, is EXACTLY the amount of power it is consuming.:smack: You got me there. Except for the negligible chemical energy and electromagnetic energy, you’re right. My post should’ve been a response to this instead: > [@TheMadHun](#): > > Is it fair to say that all the energy consumed ends up as heat, either from cooling the interior, or directly thrown off by the motor housing? This suggests to me that the coils, not just the motor, heat the house, when they only release what heat is leaking back into the refrigerator. ---
**Author:** ![Brainiac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8797f3/32.png) [@Brainiac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brainiac)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-data-on-how-much-heat-a-refrigerator-gives-off/509938/22 "2009-09-14T23:10:50Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > As an exercise, why don’t you calculate how much energy is stored in the embrittlement of the rubber of the average refrigerator and report back? I have a better idea. I’ll wait for you to stop snarking other’s posts and then being all crybaby about it. ---
**Author:** ![Uncertain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Uncertain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncertain)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2009, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-data-on-how-much-heat-a-refrigerator-gives-off/509938/23 "2009-09-15T02:42:59Z")
> [@Brainiac](#): > > You don’t have to pump things that have thermal gradients. That’s why convection currents were invented. I’m not sure what you mean. Both refrigerators and A/C work as heat engines in reverse, pumping heat against a temperature difference, from colder to hottter. Pumping directly from cold to hot is no easier than pumping from cold to warm and from warm to hot. ---
**Author:** ![Uncertain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Uncertain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncertain)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2009, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-data-on-how-much-heat-a-refrigerator-gives-off/509938/24 "2009-09-15T02:46:06Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > That would only be true if: > > The “heat pumper efficiency” of the refrig is significantly/way worse than that of the AC unit. Not so. If both were at the thermodynamically best achievable efficiency, the two would be the same. Depending on which was actually more efficient, one or the other would be the more efficient. So, it’s not clear that it’s a win. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2009, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-data-on-how-much-heat-a-refrigerator-gives-off/509938/25 "2009-09-15T02:50:03Z")
> [@Uncertain](#): > > Not so. If both were at the thermodynamically best achievable efficiency, the two would be the same. Depending on which was actually more efficient, one or the other would be the more efficient. So, it’s not clear that it’s a win. Your second sentence deals with things not achievable, particularly in household appliances. Are you Braniacs distant cousin? ---
**Author:** ![Uncertain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Uncertain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncertain)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2009, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-data-on-how-much-heat-a-refrigerator-gives-off/509938/26 "2009-09-15T03:24:03Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > Your second sentence deals with things not achievable, particularly in household appliances. Right, which is clearly the basis of my third sentence. Do you have some reason to believe that the short-comings of real-world heat pumps would favor the configuration with the refrigerator coils outside? It seems that it would depend on such things as which heat pump–A/C or refrigerator–came closer to maximal efficiency. I don’t know which one does. Your statement that [QUOTE=billfish678] The “heat pumper efficiency” of the refrig is significantly/way worse than that of the AC unit. [/QUOTE] is not true. What I say would be true if they had equal efficiency. > [@](#): > > Are you Braniacs distant cousin? Sigh. I guess that’s supposed to be an insult. That’s uncalled for, violates the single rule of this message board (“don’t be a jerk”), and exposes your lack of mastery of apostrophe use (not to mention population genetics; we’re all distant cousins). ---
**Author:** ![Never\_Say\_Dice](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ee59a6/32.png) [@Never\_Say\_Dice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Never_Say_Dice)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2009, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-data-on-how-much-heat-a-refrigerator-gives-off/509938/27 "2009-09-15T19:40:47Z")
Just ignore billfish678. He’s always unreliable. That’s why he uses personal insults, because he never gets his facts straight and then gets defensive about it. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2009, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-data-on-how-much-heat-a-refrigerator-gives-off/509938/28 "2009-09-15T20:42:37Z")
> [@Uncertain](#): > > What I say would be true if they had equal efficiency. So, you are NIT picking, hence the Braniac comment by me . Technically, Braniac is right, but only in the decimal places, the ones that don’t matter. You expect an AC unit and a refrigerator unit, which operate in somewhat different conditions, and are an order of magnitude difference in cost/size to have EXACTLY equal efficiencies for your point to be right. And your point being if they are exactly the same is that there is NO difference. So, your point is, in an ivory tower, it MAY be a wash. Now thats usefull information ! And even THEN I am still not sure you are right, depending on the interpretation of what you’ve said and what I’ve said. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2009, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-data-on-how-much-heat-a-refrigerator-gives-off/509938/29 "2009-09-15T21:21:19Z")
**Uncertain** The ironic thing is I was generally agreeing with you, noting the conditions under which you would be wrong (and nitpicking I guess) and you took the nitpicking to the next level. ---
**Author:** ![TheMadHun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@TheMadHun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheMadHun)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2009, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-data-on-how-much-heat-a-refrigerator-gives-off/509938/30 "2009-09-16T13:45:09Z")
> [@Brainiac](#): > > You don’t have to pump things that have thermal gradients. That’s why convection currents were invented. That’s right. That’s how the [refrigerator Einstein patented](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Einstein#Einstein_refrigerator) woks. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-data-on-how-much-heat-a-refrigerator-gives-off/509938.md?page=1)