• ToastedRavioli@midwest.social
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    14 hours ago

    An ice maker is more complex than just manually freezing ice in a tray. You have a bunch of small motors and pumps and things that require more electricity to function, and all of that energy is on top of the energy it takes to cool the freezer (which a non ice maker refrigerator is already doing). Plus, all those things that are inside the freezer space are now generating or adding heat in the space youre using energy to cool, especially the water it’s continuously freezing to make ice whenever it isnt full.

    A report from 2020 said that automatic ice maker refrigerators use 14-20% more energy than a normal refrigerator

    • atomicbocks@sh.itjust.works
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      14 hours ago

      Did the study take into account opening the door multiple times to get the ice tray in and out vs the tiny hole in the door only being open while ice is flowing?

      Also why would there be any pumps? Faucets don’t have pumps and neither does any fridge I have ever had.

      • Kevlar21@piefed.social
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        11 hours ago

        Most ice machines have a water pump. I suppose you could make one that just used a water supply pressure and valves but I’ve never seen that on commercial ice machines

        • atomicbocks@sh.itjust.works
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          11 hours ago

          We aren’t talking about commercial ice machines though, we are talking about the ones inside the freezer of domestic refrigerators. All of those that I have seen just use tap pressure for the ice machine and the door dispenser.