Question:
It is often stated that the refrigerator door should be opened as few times as possible for the shortest duration of time to save energy. Consider a household refrigerator whose interior volume is 0.9 m3 and average internal temperature is 4°C. At any given time, one-third of the refrigerated space is occupied by food items, and the remaining 0.6 m3 is filled with air. The average temperature and pressure in the kitchen are 20°C and 95 kPa, respectively. Also, the moisture contents of the air in the kitchen and the refrigerator are 0.010 and 0.004 kg per kg of air, respectively, and thus 0.006 kg of water vapor is condensed and removed for each kg of air that enters. The refrigerator door is opened an average of 8 times a day, and each time half of the air volume in the refrigerator is replaced by the warmer kitchen air. If the refrigerator has a coefficient of performance of 1.4 and the cost of electricity is 7.5 cents per kWh, determine the cost of the energy wasted per year as a result of opening the refrigerator door. What would your answer be if the kitchen air were very dry and thus a negligible amount of water vapor condensed in the refrigerator?