Editing Refrigerator (section)

==History==
[[File:Theater commercial, electric refrigerator, 1926.ogv|thumb|Commercial for electric refrigerators in [[Pittsburgh]], [[Pennsylvania]], 1926]]

===Technology development===
{{See also|Refrigeration|Low-temperature technology timeline}}

'''Ancient origins'''

{{main|Yakhchāl}}

[[Ancient Iranians]] were among the first to invent a form of cooler utilizing the principles of evaporative cooling and radiative cooling called [[yakhchāl]]s.  These complexes used subterranean storage spaces, a large thickly insulated above-ground domed structure, and outfitted with [[badgir]]s (wind-catchers) and series of [[qanat]]s (aqueducts).{{citation needed|date=May 2024}}<ref>{{Cite journal|title= Thermal Performance of Sustainable Element in Moayedi Icehouse in Iran|url= https://doi.org/10.1080/15583058.2019.1645243|access-date=2021-02-02|journal=International Journal of Architectural Heritage|year= 2021|doi= 10.1080/15583058.2019.1645243|language=en-US|last1= Ebrahimi|first1= Ali|last2= Shayegani|first2= Aida|last3= Zarandi|first3= Mahnaz Mahmoudi|volume= 15|issue= 5|pages= 740–756|s2cid= 202094054|url-access= subscription}}</ref>

'''Pre-electric refrigeration'''

In modern times, before the invention of the modern electric refrigerator, [[Icehouse (building)|icehouses]] and [[iceboxes]] were used to provide cool storage for most of the year. Placed near freshwater lakes or packed with snow and ice during the winter, they were once very common. Natural means are still used to cool foods today. On mountainsides, runoff from melting snow is a convenient way to cool drinks, and during the winter one can keep milk fresh much longer just by keeping it outdoors. The word "refrigeratory" was used at least as early as the 17th century.<ref>Venetum Britannicum, 1676, London, p. 176 in the 1678 edition.</ref>

'''Artificial refrigeration'''{{multiple image
   | width     = 140
   | direction = vertical
   | image_style = border:0
   | image1    = Gorrie Ice Machine.png
   | alt1      = Mechanical drawing
   | caption1  = Schematic of Dr. John Gorrie's 1841 mechanical ice machine
   | image2    = AppareilCarré.jpg
   | alt2      = Mechanical drawing
   | caption2  = [[Ferdinand Carré]]'s ice-making device
}}
The history of artificial refrigeration began when Scottish professor [[William Cullen]] designed a small refrigerating machine in 1755. Cullen used a pump to create a partial [[vacuum]] over a container of [[diethyl ether]], which then [[boiling point|boiled]], absorbing [[heat of vaporization|heat]] from the surrounding air.<ref>{{cite book|last=Arora|first=Ramesh Chandra|title=Refrigeration and Air Conditioning|publisher=PHI Learning|location=New Delhi, India|isbn=978-81-203-3915-6|page=3|chapter=Mechanical vapour compression refrigeration|date=30 March 2012}}</ref> The experiment even created a small amount of ice, but had no practical application at that time.

[[Image:Linde cycle 1895 -1903 patent cryo.jpg|thumb|left|200px|[[Carl von Linde|Linde]]'s 1895 patent for the [[Hampson–Linde cycle|refrigeration cycle]]]]
In 1805, American inventor [[Oliver Evans]] described a closed [[vapor-compression refrigeration]] cycle for the production of ice by ether under vacuum. In 1820, the British scientist [[Michael Faraday]] liquefied [[ammonia]] and other gases by using high pressures and low temperatures, and in 1834, an American expatriate in Great Britain, [[Jacob Perkins]], built the first working vapor-compression refrigeration system. It was a closed-cycle device that could operate continuously.<ref name=burstall>{{cite book |last = Burstall |first = Aubrey F. |year = 1965 |title = A History of Mechanical Engineering |publisher = The MIT Press |isbn = 0-262-52001-X}}</ref> A similar attempt was made in 1842, by American physician, [[John Gorrie]],<ref>{{cite patent
| country = US
| number = 8080A
| title = Improved process for the artificial production of ice
| gdate = 1851-05-06
| inventor = John Gorrie
| url = https://patents.google.com/patent/US8080A
}} {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220311122720/https://patents.google.com/patent/US8080A |date=11 March 2022 }}</ref> who built a working prototype, but it was a commercial failure. American engineer [[Alexander Twining]] took out a British patent in 1850 for a vapor compression system that used ether.

The first practical vapor compression refrigeration system was built by [[James Harrison (engineer)|James Harrison]], a Scottish Australian. His 1856 patent was for a vapor compression system using ether, alcohol or ammonia. He built a mechanical ice-making machine in 1851 on the banks of the Barwon River at Rocky Point in [[Geelong]], [[Victoria (Australia)|Victoria]], and his first commercial ice-making machine followed in 1854. Harrison also introduced commercial vapor-compression refrigeration to breweries and meat packing houses, and by 1861, a dozen of his systems were in operation.

The first [[absorption refrigeration|gas absorption]] refrigeration system (compressor-less and powered by a heat-source) was developed by Edward  Toussaint of France in 1859 and patented in 1860.  It used gaseous ammonia dissolved in water ("aqua ammonia").

[[Carl von Linde]], an engineering professor at the Technological University Munich in Germany, patented an improved method of liquefying gases in 1876, creating the first reliable and efficient compressed-ammonia refrigerator.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.goethe.de/ins/us/saf/prj/stg/ger/inv/enindex.htm|title=Step into German - German(y) - The TOP 40 German Inventions - Goethe-Institut|website=www.goethe.de|language=en|access-date=19 October 2017}}</ref> His new process made possible the use of gases such as [[ammonia]] (NH<sub>3</sub>), [[sulfur dioxide]] (SO<sub>2</sub>) and [[methyl chloride]] (CH<sub>3</sub>Cl) as refrigerants, which were widely used for that purpose until the late 1920s despite safety concerns.<ref>{{Cite journal|date=February 1978|title=Refrigerator vacuum dehydration unit|journal=Vacuum|volume=28|issue=2|pages=81|doi=10.1016/s0042-207x(78)80528-4|issn=0042-207X}}</ref> In 1895 he discovered the [[Hampson–Linde cycle|refrigeration cycle]].

=== Electric refrigerators ===
[[File:French Refrigerator Plant Increases its Productivity - DPLA - 95f3ac5808bd87d40bb4379003218b75.jpg|thumb|right|Production of refrigerators in France, ca. 1950s]]
In 1894, [[Science and technology in Hungary|Hungarian inventor]] and industrialist István Röck started to manufacture a large industrial ammonia refrigerator which was powered by electric compressors (together with the Esslingen Machine Works). Its electric compressors were manufactured by the [[Ganz Works]].  At the 1896 Millennium Exhibition, Röck and the Esslingen Machine Works presented a 6-tonne capacity artificial ice producing plant. In 1906, the first large Hungarian cold store (with a capacity of 3,000 tonnes, the largest in Europe) opened in Tóth Kálmán Street, Budapest, the machine was manufactured by the [[Ganz Works]]. Until nationalisation after the Second World War, large-scale industrial refrigerator production in Hungary was in the hands of Röck and Ganz Works.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20220506202421/https://mek.oszk.hu/02100/02185/html/703.html The development and heyday of mechanical science] (Hungarian)</ref>

Commercial refrigerator and freezer units, which go by many other names, were in use for almost 40 years prior to the common home models. They used gas systems such as [[ammonia]] (R-717) or [[sulfur dioxide]] (R-764), which occasionally leaked, making them unsafe for home use. Practical household refrigerators were introduced in 1915 and gained wider acceptance in the United States in the 1930s as prices fell and non-toxic, non-flammable synthetic [[refrigerant]]s such as [[Dichlorodifluoromethane|Freon-12]] (R-12) were introduced.  However, R-12 proved to be damaging to the [[ozone layer]], causing governments to issue a ban on its use in new refrigerators and air-conditioning systems in 1994. The less harmful replacement for R-12, [[1,1,1,2-Tetrafluoroethane|R-134a]] (tetrafluoroethane), has been in common use since 1990, but R-12 is still found in many old systems.

Refrigeration, continually operated, typically consumes up to 50% of the energy used by a supermarket. Doors, made of glass to allow inspection of contents, improve efficiency significantly over open display cases, which use 1.3 times the energy.<ref>{{Cite conference|last1=Fricke |first1=Brian |last2=Becker |first2=Bryan |date=July 12–15, 2010 |title=Energy Use of Doored and Open Vertical Refrigerated Display Cases |url=https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2153&context=iracc |conference=International Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Conference|location=Purdue |via=Purdue e-Pubs}}</ref>

===Residential refrigerators===
[[File:DOMELRE refrigerator c. 1914.png|thumb|DOMELRE refrigerator {{circa}}&nbsp;1914]]
In 1913, the first electric refrigerators for home and domestic use were invented and produced by Fred W. Wolf of Fort Wayne, Indiana, with models consisting of a unit that was mounted on top of an ice box.<ref>{{cite patent
| country = US
| number = 1126605
| title = Refrigerating apparatus
| gdate = 1915-01-26
| fdate = 1913-04-07
| inventor = Fred W. Wolf
| url = https://patents.google.com/patent/US1126605
}} {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220307165253/https://patents.google.com/patent/US1126605 |date=7 March 2022 }}</ref><ref name="Heldman2003">{{cite book|author=Dennis R. Heldman|title=Encyclopedia of Agricultural, Food, and Biological Engineering (Print)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fCRpUZzT2hMC&pg=PA350|date=29 August 2003|publisher=CRC Press|isbn=978-0-8247-0938-9|page=350|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160505214053/https://books.google.com/books?id=fCRpUZzT2hMC&pg=PA350|archive-date=5 May 2016}}</ref> His first device, produced over the next few years in several hundred units, was called [[DOMELRE]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=DOMELRE First Electric Refrigerator {{!}} ashrae.org|url=https://www.ashrae.org/about/mission-and-vision/ashrae-industry-history/domelre-first-electric-refrigerator|access-date=2021-08-02|website=www.ashrae.org|archive-date=2 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210802013321/https://www.ashrae.org/about/mission-and-vision/ashrae-industry-history/domelre-first-electric-refrigerator|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Air Conditioning and Refrigeration History - part 3 - Greatest Engineering Achievements of the Twentieth Century|url=http://www.greatachievements.org/?id=3862|access-date=2021-08-02|website=www.greatachievements.org|archive-date=2 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210802013321/http://www.greatachievements.org/?id=3862|url-status=live}}</ref> In 1914, engineer [[Nathaniel B. Wales]] of Detroit, Michigan, introduced an idea for a practical electric refrigeration unit, which later became the basis for the [[Kelvinator]]. A self-contained refrigerator, with a compressor on the bottom of the cabinet was invented by [[Alfred Mellowes]] in 1916. Mellowes produced this refrigerator commercially but was bought out by [[William C. Durant]] in 1918, who started the [[Frigidaire]] company to [[Mass production|mass-produce]] refrigerators. In 1918, Kelvinator company introduced the first refrigerator with any type of automatic control. The [[absorption refrigerator]] was invented by [[Baltzar von Platen (inventor)|Baltzar von Platen]] and [[Carl Munters]] from Sweden in 1922, while they were still students at the [[Royal Institute of Technology]] in Stockholm. It became a worldwide success and was commercialized by [[Electrolux]]. Other pioneers included [[Charles Tellier]], David Boyle, and [[Raoul Pictet]]. [[Carl von Linde]] was the first to patent and make a practical and compact refrigerator.

These home units usually required the installation of the mechanical parts, motor and compressor, in the basement or an adjacent room while the cold box was located in the kitchen. There was a 1922 model that consisted of a wooden cold box, [[Watercooling|water-cooled]] compressor, an [[ice cube]] tray and a {{convert|9|cuft|m3|order=flip|adj=on}} compartment, and cost $714. (A 1922 [[Model-T]] Ford cost about $476.) By 1923, Kelvinator held 80 percent of the market for electric refrigerators. Also in 1923 Frigidaire introduced the first self-contained unit. About this same time porcelain-covered metal cabinets began to appear. Ice cube trays were introduced more and more during the 1920s; up to this time freezing was not an auxiliary function of the modern refrigerator.

[[File:Monitor refer.jpg|thumb|upright|right|General Electric "Monitor-Top" refrigerator, introduced in 1927, priced at $525, with the first all-steel cabinet, designed by [[Christian Steenstrup]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.industrialdesignhistory.com/book/export/html/148|title=G.E. Monitor Top Refrigerator|website=www.industrialdesignhistory.com|access-date=2020-01-25|archive-date=16 April 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200416064632/http://www.industrialdesignhistory.com/book/export/html/148|url-status=live}}</ref>]]

The first refrigerator to see widespread use was the General Electric "Monitor-Top" refrigerator introduced in 1927, so-called, by the public, because of its resemblance to the gun turret on the ironclad warship [[USS Monitor|USS ''Monitor'']] of the 1860s.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://refresearch.com/the-general-electric-monitor-top-refrigerator/|title=The General Electric Monitor Top Refrigerator|first=Neil|last=Lobocki|date=2017-10-04|access-date=2020-01-25|archive-date=25 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200125203919/https://refresearch.com/the-general-electric-monitor-top-refrigerator/|url-status=live}}</ref> The compressor assembly, which emitted a great deal of heat, was placed above the cabinet, and enclosed by a decorative ring. Over a million units were produced. As the refrigerating medium, these refrigerators used either [[sulfur dioxide]], which is corrosive to the eyes and may cause loss of vision, painful skin burns and lesions, or [[methyl formate]], which is highly flammable, harmful to the eyes, and toxic if inhaled or ingested.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.albanyinstitute.org/ge-monitor-top-refrigerator.html|title=GE Monitor-Top Refrigerator - Albany Institute of History and Art|website=www.albanyinstitute.org|access-date=1 June 2020|archive-date=6 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806165258/https://www.albanyinstitute.org/ge-monitor-top-refrigerator.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

The introduction of [[Freon]] in the 1920s expanded the refrigerator market during the 1930s and provided a safer, low-toxicity alternative to previously used refrigerants.  Separate freezers became common during the 1940s; the term for the unit, popular at the time, was '''''deep freeze'''''. These devices, or ''[[Home appliance|appliances]]'', did not go into mass production for use in the home until after World War II.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.history.com/exhibits/modern/fridge.html| url-status = dead | title = The History of Household Wonders: History of the Refrigerator | year = 2006 | work = [[History (U.S. TV network)|History.com]] | publisher = A&E Television Networks | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080326092256/http://www.history.com/exhibits/modern/fridge.html | archive-date = 26 March 2008}}</ref> The 1950s and 1960s saw technical advances like [[Auto-defrost|automatic defrosting]] and automatic ice making. More efficient refrigerators were developed in the 1970s and 1980s, even though [[Ozone depletion|environmental issues]] led to the banning of very effective (Freon) refrigerants. Early refrigerator models (from 1916) had a cold compartment for ice cube trays. From the late 1920s fresh vegetables were successfully processed through freezing by the [[Post Foods|Postum Company]] (the forerunner of [[General Foods]]), which had acquired the technology when it bought the rights to [[Clarence Birdseye]]'s successful fresh freezing methods.