Compartmentalized Concept Refrigerator Cool Way To Keep Stuff Cold
by Jaymi Heimbuch, San Francisco, California 
on 09.30.08
Image Credit: Electrolux Design Lab
This concept fridge looks like it could be a very interesting solution to the problem with energy sucking cold beasts. While creators at Electrolux Design Lab 2008 had their eye on style and practicality, we look at it and see potential for big energy savings.
One way to rig it for energy savings is by programming each compartment for only the necessary temperature for the contents placed in that particular compartment and nothing more. Items that don't need temperatures quite as cold as others could be separated.
Also, by having foods in separate compartments, releasing cold air upon opening it up to grab a snack could be minimized.
Finally, keeping items more tightly packed together to help out with keeping everything cold can reduce the amount of energy needed to run the units. Plus, the concept fridge is made of stackable compartments, so consumers can buy and plug in only the amount of space they need. Very cool.
Electrolux has put out some awesome kitchen concepts before, but an energy-efficient fridge of this kind is something we'd love to see right quick.
Via Tuvie
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More on Electrolux:
Electrolux Finalist: Kitchen Works In A Drawer
Call for Entries: Electrolux Design Lab 2008, "The Internet Generation"
Electrolux Design Lab 2007: And The Finalists Are...
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Love it! very good ideas.
(small gripe):
not sure about the stackable separate units; they have to be insulated all the way round and that's a lot of redundant bulk.
Someone needs to come up with a cool looking modified chest freezer (that works as a refridgerator). Modifying a chest freezer gets rid of the cold air escape but it crazy hard to organize, maybe if they divided it into compartments...
I've seen this on a few different blogs now but all they have talked about is the flatshare capabilities, each housemate has a seperate compartment so your food doesn't go missing.
This is the first blog that mentions each section being able to be set at different temperatures, i think this could save a lot of energy
i'm not sure this would be more efficient. multiple compressors, redundant insulation between layers reducing usable space (the reason side by sides have less space than top/bottoms) reduced sharing of thermal mass.
now, putting something like a dutch door on to access just the juice/milk shelf or the "snack drawer" would be a bonus but this just looks to be a waste of materials. if you want zones, put minimal thermal protection between them with colder at the bottom, and let one system control it via venting, or smaller booster coils instead of multiple systems.