Why does keeping a refigerator door open not cool a kitchen?

Question

I know this to be true, but what is the physics behind it?

Answer 1

The following is a very basic explanation of the workings of a fridge.

In a fridge, a low boiling point refrigerant gas (used to be Freon), is compressed by the compressor.
The high pressure gas is cooled and condensed by the kitchen ambient temperature in the coils at the back of the fridge to give a high pressure liquid refrigerant. (The cooling and condensation of the refrigerant will increase the kitchen temperature somewhat)

The high pressure liquid refrigerant is then expanded to low pressure by a special valve and the resultant partial vaporisation of the refrigerant causes a considerable drop in its temperature to near its normal boiling point. The cold vapour/liquid mixture passes through the coils of the cold box in the fridge and heat is removed from the fridge interior and its contents.

When the inside of the fridge reaches the thermostat set temperature, the system shuts down.

The process of heat exchange in the fridge re-vaporises all of the liquid refrigerant and the low pressure, warmer vapour is returned to the compressor to begin the cycle again.

By leaving the door open, the refrigeration system cannot possibly cope with the huge amount of heat energy involved in trying to cool the kitchen. The system would overload, overheat and suffer major problems.

Answer 2

If you look at the back of the refigerator you will see that it is covered with metal tubes. The coolant absorbs the heat from inside the refrigerator and releases the heat in these coils. So if you leave the door open all you are doing is moving the heat from the front of the fridge to the rear.

Answer 3

The Compressor that circulates the Refrigerant within a Refrigerator is not Powerful enough to Cool a High Volume of air. Hence when the Refrigerator Door is Opened the Compressor is Working harder and hence Heats UP,
There fore keeping its Door Open actually Warms up the Air around the Refrigerator.

Answer 4

a refrigerator works by blowing air over tubes of freon gas which cool the air, which travels into the fridge. This process is fascilitated by a motor on the back of the appliance. However, with the door open, the motor is not powerful enough to cool the entire room, and therefore, works overtime...producing an excess of heat while at the same time, not effectively cooling such a large area. Therefore, both the heat produced by the motor and the improper cooling effect over such a large area will likely heat up the room instead of cool it.

Answer 5

Couldn't tell you the physics, but I can tell you that the back side of a fridge is VERY warm. Every degree of temperature you reduce each cubic metre of air in the enclosed space of the refrigerated cabinet, you have to radiate that heat to a similar volume of air outside the unit.

This is why an air conditioner works. It takes the heat in the room and literally dumps it outside.

This is also why you can cause the fridge's compressor to go. If you set the internal thermostat too low, the compressor will have to work that much harder, generating more heat, etc. The fact that the compressor is mounted low on the back of the unit doesn't help either.

Answer 6

The motor on the fridge isn't big enough to cool such a large area and also you have warm air coming into the kitchen because it is not sealed like a fridge is when the door is shut. its like air con in a car works until you open the car window then the hot air is coming in and cold air going out. incidently the fridge will try to cool the kitchen and it can be very expensive on you electricity bill

Answer 7

Because a small domestic fridge is only designed to cool down the amount of air contained in the cabinet. I would think, if it tried to cool a whole kitchen it would land up trying to cool the air which had been heated by the overworking motor. So you see, to cool something down takes energy, using that energy produces heat, that is why the fridge cabinet is sealed to the outside world.

Answer 8

The refrigerator removes the heat from inside it, and dumps the heat out the back. If you keep the door open, the coolness that is made it front is canceled by the heat in back. Plus, the motor adds a little heat of its own.

Answer 9

the reply isn't any. A refrigerator works through extracting warmth from the interior and discharging it by the condenser with it is vent fins on the lower back of the refrigerator. A operating refrigerator actual heats up the room, ever so somewhat, because it cools the area contained in the refrigerator. starting the door signifies that the refrigerator is now attempting to chill the finished room, yet at the same time as cooling the room the condenser on the rear is effectively heating it. it will be cooler at the front of the refrigerator yet hotter on the rear...yet common there will be no replace in room temperature. a good question. in case you observed the common sense to the properly although...the reply will be..it heats up. you're dropping electrical energy...the electrical energy is being produced through a ability station. it is starting to be greenhouse gasses. they're causing the planet to warmth up....!

Answer 10

I am not an expert on this area but I imagine that the refrigerator is only strong enough to remove the heat inside. You know that cold does not exist , it's just absence of heat. The refrigerator produces cold air which eliminates the heat inside thus creating a cold environment inside, imagine the refrigerator haveing to eliminate all the heat in the kitches, where you cook and producde heat, it would be impossible.