• Draconic NEO@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    4 days ago

    It also won’t put out much more heat than is already in the room. It evacuates heat from it’s interior, heat that was already present in the room. If the room was colder than the inside of the fridge, it wouldn’t produce any heat at all. the thermostat would cut off after the temperature equalized and it wouldn’t run at all.

    When it does run it produces maybe a few dozen watts of waste heat. Definitely not useful to heat a space with.

    • mlc894@lemmy.world
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      2 days ago

      Where are you getting “a few dozen watts”? I see ranges of 300-800 W online.

      • Draconic NEO@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        2 days ago

        I guess that makes sense, although unlike a 200w heater it doesn’t get warm as quickly. And so won’t make a great heater. I guess it will ultimately put out that much heat over time though.

      • Draconic NEO@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        2 days ago

        My refrigerator has 200w of draw and most of that goes into doing the refrigeration, so a few dozen watts of waste heat is my estimate based on my refrigerator. Which isn’t a big refrigerator, it’s definitely on the small size. A bigger refrigerator with a more powerful compressor will produce more waste heat but it’ll still be small compared to the energy put in to do the work. And it’ll be tiny compared to the wattage of a heater which top out at 1500 watts.

        • mlc894@lemmy.world
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          2 days ago

          Oh, I see what you’re saying!

          That’s not quite how refrigerations works. The energy doesn’t “go into” doing the refrigeration; the energy you’re bringing in from the electrical grid is still in your home.

          In other words, if your fridge runs at 200 W, then your home is being heated at 200 W, plus whatever heat is being pulled from the inside of the fridge.