Post #1574229

2026-04-23 01:41 UTC

Not too worried about how permanent the installation is. I mean how often do you move the fridge around your kitchen? Besides, these days a lot of them have a water faucet installed for the ice maker anyway. As for efficiency, the AC has to fight the same gradient already, but with the heat being dumped inside it has to overcome it twice. It would add complexity and points of breakage, so it would need to be a robust enough system to make it worth it, which fights against it adding enough efficiency to be worth it.

Replies (2)

@Shellofbiomatter@lemmus.org 2026-04-23 04:31

Considering that there are news about newer smart fridges displaying ads. Then as soon as that happens. Throwing a standard fridge out the window can already be kinda difficult. Doing it to something that's permanently installed is going to be much harder, though maybe more cathartic due to needing to use a crowbar.

Open ##1574231
@GreenCrunch@piefed.blahaj.zone 2026-04-23 02:52

I'm not sure that it would he equivalent - the AC has to fight a smaller temperature difference between outside and inside. Also, I am not sure how much it'd really save for the extra complexity. A lower maintenance way of improving overall efficiency could maybe be some way of capturing that heat to warm water a bit, so that could save your water heater some work by preheating it perhaps. That would keep all plumbing internal, and the fridge may even fight a smaller temperature difference, since tap water is usually cold. Though now if your water heater and "warm water" tank are full what do you do for the fridge? I do think that "better insulation for the house" or "just a more efficient fridge" probably trumps any of these changes in terms of energy saving for your investment in many cases.

Open ##1574232