A study on the effectiveness of applying vacuum insulation panels in domestic refrigerators

In this work the thermodynamic behavior of a typical domestic refrigerator insulated in 16 distinct ways with vacuum insulation panels (VIPs) was experimentally evaluated. As expected, it was found that the energy consumption is affected by both the coverage area and the position of the panels. It was also found that samples with the same coverage area presented distinct energy consumptions and vice-versa. The gathered data were correlated statistically in order to identify the most promising regions to install the panels. It was observed that the energy consumption is reduced by approximately 6% and 11% when the doors and the rear wall are insulated with VIPs, respectively. It was also found that a coverage area of 56% drops the energy consumption by 21%.