[Tistron]

What I want is a silent refrigerator, will this bring that? pray

[bob1029]

I've been thinking about what it would look like to convert my GE fridge into a minisplit (i.e., move the compressor, condensing coil & fan outside).

You can buy R600a on Amazon right now. One $60 can will charge the system ~5 times.

[theluketaylor]

With home HVAC, fridges, water heaters, and dryers all using now able to use of dependent on heat pumps I wonder how long it be before we see modular appliances that connect to coolant lines where the temperature differential is supplied by a central high efficiency heat pump.

Cars already have heat scavenging that can move heat from where it's being created through losses to places where it's valuable, like the cabin or battery pre-heating. Especially in cold climates it feels like homes should be next.

[userbinator]

It's worth noting that the very earliest electric refrigerators had a separate condensing unit outside; see this interesting 1920s Frigidaire training video for an example of what that was like: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-t7DqOAMME

There were also centralised systems for apartments where one condensing unit supplied many evaporators in the refrigerator in each suite.

[toomuchtodo]

https://patents.google.com/patent/US20120192586A1/en

(abandoned)

[userbinator]

Absorption refrigerators have been around for approximately a century, are silent, and a little more efficient than peltiers.

[akvadrako]

I used one for a couple years as my primary fridge. It was expensive, like $2k, didn't have very good temperature control and broke after 2 years and couldn't be repaired.

[esseph]

You can hear your refrigerator???

[bob1029]

The latest wave of appliances is really fucking loud for some reason.

I think they're using different kinds of motor windings, bearings, insulation, etc. it's not related to the refrigerant or other system parameters. I've had older r600a fridges that were dead silent compared to anything sitting in a Best Buy showroom right now.

[frosted-flakes]

You can't? Refrigerators have always made a noticeable background noise as they cycle on and off.

The advantage of the newer variable speed scroll compressors in some high end fridges is that they can run continuously at a slower speed.

[JoshTriplett]

Yes, absolutely. In particular, I find this obnoxious when staying in hotel rooms that have a minifridge.

[athenot]

My wine fridge uses Peltier and is super quiet. It's the perfect application for this because wine doesn't need to be as cold as a normal fridge, and noise is a consideration.

It's not completely silent though, there's a small PC-like fan but it's way less loud than a compressor.

[SchemaLoad]

You might be able to swap that fan out for a higher quality one like a noctua.

[refurb]

They already exist! Well, small ones.

A hotel I was staying at had a small bar fridge that used a Peltier. I only know because it stopped working so I checked it and realized it was only a Peltier plus a heat exchanged (a cyclopropane loop).

I presume a full size fridge is outside of reach at this point.

[elzbardico]

Move it outside a cabinet, let it free stand. I found out that my nice kitchen niche for the refrigerator acted like a nice resonance chamber for the frequencies the compressor generated.

I can barely hear it now.

[Sharlin]

If the cabinet is poorly designed (or ventilation is otherwise obstructed), it will also retain heat, making the fridge have to work harder.

[amelius]

Simplest solution would be to have a compressor that is only active e.g. during the day (when the user is not at home).

[SketchySeaBeast]

But the user doesn't open the door when they aren't at home.

[veunes]

Peltier modules have no moving parts, so they're inherently silent

[NuclearPM]

Why?

[iLoveOncall]

Not OP but it's a massive nuisance if you live in a studio. People don't realize how noisy a fridge is until there's one in the room that they sleep in.