Experimental Investigation of the Effect of Change in Ambient Air Temperature on Power Consumption of Domestic Refrigerators

• Main Authors: J. A. Olorunmaiye, O. O. Awolola, J. F. Oladiji
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Faculty of Engineering and Technology 2012-12-01
• Series: Nigerian Journal of Technological Development
• Online Access: http://njtd.com.ng/index.php/njtd/article/view/70

One of the manifestations of climate change is increase.in ambient air temperature usually referred to as global warming. For sustainable development in a country, there is need to identify impacts of climate change and the necessary adaptation and mitigation strategies to adopt. To simulate the effect of global warming on the power consumption of refrigerators, a (model No. 150) THERMOCOOL refrigerator filled with twenty-five 750cl packaged water bottleswas run in an air-conditioned room, in a room with the air-conditioner switched off and near an oven in a bakery. The electric power consumption of the refrigerator was measured using "Watts up?.net" Watt meter and the ambient temperature was measured using FLUKE temperature/humidity meter. The average hourly energy consumption of the refrigerator operating at mean ambient temperatures of 25.4°C, 30.7oC, 38.8°C were 93.844 Wh, 100.32 Wh and 105.08 Wh respectively. Some possible ways to reduce the increase in power consumption of refrigerators due to global warming include using compressors of higher efficiency and condensers of greater effectiveness.