On 20/04/17 10:01, Graham C wrote:
On Wed, 19 Apr 2017 09:42:53 +0100, Graham C
wrote:

Years ago if you looked at the back of a fridge you'd see the
condenser coils. When I was looking for a new fridge recently I
noticed that most models have the back covered with a sheet of what
looks like corrugated plastic. I assumed that this was for protection
and would be removed on installation.

Not so - my new replacement does not mention removing the back and
wouldn't be straightforward. I thought that condensers should be in
open air for efficiency. What's going on?

NB the entire back is covered apart from a 20 cm gap at the bottom
where one can see the compressor etc.

GrahamC
Just to confirm - there is no gap at the top, so no chimney effect.

Howeverthe backs of all the models I looked at (including mine) are
black in colour so I guess that helps (just a tiny bit, as plastic
itself is a pretty good insulator).

Perhaps it's a special plastic. Too much trouble now to heave the
appliance out and find out what's going on.

GrahamC

I have noticed this too.

And am as perplexed as you are.

Sure insulation's WAY better, so the things don't need to continuously
pull as much heat out, but even so...

--
The biggest threat to humanity comes from socialism, which has utterly
diverted our attention away from what really matters to our existential
survival, to indulging in navel gazing and faux moral investigations
into what the world ought to be, whilst we fail utterly to deal with
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