Using a timer (or watch) and a thermometer, conduct this experiment to determine the rate of heat gain of your refrigerator. First, make sure that the door of the refrigerator is not opened for at least a few hours to make sure that steady operating conditions are established. Start the timer when the refrigerator stops running and measure the time Δt1 it stays off before it kicks in. Then measure the time Δt2 it stays on. Noting that the heat removed during Δt2 is equal to the heat gain of the refrigerator during Δt1 + Dt2 and using the power consumed by the refrigerator when it is running, determine the average rate of heat gain for your refrigerator, in watts. Take the COP (coefficient of performance) of your refrigerator to be 1.3 if it is not available.
Now, clean the condenser coils of the refrigerator and remove any obstacles on the way of airflow through the coils. By replacing these measurements, determine the improvement in the COP of the refrigerator.
