Refrigerator Coil Cleaning - How much does it help?

[Natalya]

I've never done this before. But today I went and vacuumed//brushed a bunch of dust bunnies and hair and stuff off my fridge coils. It wasn't as bad as some horrifying ones I've seen on google image search, but I'm assuming the dust wasn't helping.

Has anyone ever studied this and like gotten numbers? Google (useless now anyway) has like results saying 'yes it helps' or 'no it does not help' but I was wondering if there are any actual numbers people have.

[Piwoslaw]

Yes, it helps.

In fact, it helps double: The dust not only hinders air flow over the coils, but also acts as an insulator!

No numbers, because there are SOOOOO many variables here: The size/area of the coils, their temperature, the speed/volume/temperature of the airflow over them, whether it is forced air or passive cooling, etc. And of course, how much dust (and what kind of dust) is on those coils.

Also, if the refrigerator itself is badly insulated, then it will turn on more often and for longer, so the gain in heat exchange efficiency will have more impact than in the case of a well insulated fridge which is rarely on.

[redpoint5]

Originally Posted by Natalya

I've never done this before. But today I went and vacuumed//brushed a bunch of dust bunnies and hair and stuff off my fridge coils. It wasn't as bad as some horrifying ones I've seen on google image search, but I'm assuming the dust wasn't helping.

Has anyone ever studied this and like gotten numbers? Google (useless now anyway) has like results saying 'yes it helps' or 'no it does not help' but I was wondering if there are any actual numbers people have.

Good seeing ya here again.

Great question, and I'm curious too. I suppose the answer as always is "it depends".

The dust creates insulation, which is not efficient when we're trying to exchange heat. I wouldn't be surprised if the efficiency drops by 20% between a normal dirty, and normal clean.

As a tangent, my dad gave me a deep freezer that's probably older than me. I measured consumption and concluded a new, cheap freezer would pay for itself in electricity savings in just 3 years, so replacing it was a no-brainer.

My fridge consumption is monitored, so I'll clean the coil and see if anything interesting stands out. I'll wait for indoor temperatures to stabilize first though.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Some people in my country hang (slightly) wet clothes on the fridge coils to dry faster, yet it does increase the power consumption.

[y2kbug]

One of my old jobs had a broken refrigerator in a room nobody used and i wanted to use it. It was plugged in but it wasn't cooling inside and the compressor sounded like it was overheating. I suspected the condenser was full of dust but i had no way of cleaning it.I pulled the fridge away from the wall a little and put a box fan behind it. The next day the fridge was working good and i put my lunch in it from then on.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Te coils need some clearance from any wall, in order to allow heat to dissipate instead of being trapped.