Report: Eco-Friendly Coolant Causing Refrigerators to Explode

[PocketProtector]

More idiocy from the "Greens"

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,...est=latestnews

Report: Eco-Friendly Coolant Causing Refrigerators to Explode

Wednesday, September 02, 2009

A wave of violent refrigerator explosions in Britain reportedly is believed to have been caused by an attempt to make the machines more "green."

The five reported explosions — which destroyed the refrigerators and the kitchens that housed them — appear to coincide with a widespread switch to 'Greenfreeze' technology, the Daily Mail reported.

The new refrigerators use a different cooling system running on gases that are supposed to be less harmful to the ozone layer, but refrigeration contractor Graeme Fox told the Daily Mail that if the flammable natural gases leak into the fridge, they could trigger a powerful blast.

One woman whose fridge exploded three weeks ago told the Mail it caused more than $16,000 worth of damage. Another told the paper she thought an earthquake had struck when she and her sleeping family were rattled awake by her exploding fridge.

An independent engineer confirmed that a gas leak is suspected in the most recent fridge explosion, the Daily Mail reported.

Institute of Refrigeration President Jane Gartshore told the Mail that it's theoretically possible that the blasts could be caused by an isobutane leak but added that "there are hundreds of millions of these fridges and these incidents are very, very rare."

There are more than 300 million Greenfreeze fridges worldwide, the Mail reported.

[Yellowfin]

Must...stop...laughing! Why is it that I can't stop laughing at this?

[PocketProtector]

Must...stop...laughing! Why is it that I can't stop laughing at this?

Cause stupid can be funny.

[NikeBauer21]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAhahahaha.. ha............ haha...

What a bunch of turdjobs...

[camper]

You want a REAL laugh, look at what the EPA says you need to do if you drop a compact flourescent bulb on your floor...and all the warnings about keeping them away from ground water.

But they ARE more 'green' then those evil traditional bulbs that lack the mercury the EPA doesn't want getting into the groundwater, and don't come just short of requiring an N95 mask to clean up the broken bulbs...

camper

[MTechnik]

You want a REAL laugh, look at what the EPA says you need to do if you drop a compact flourescent bulb on your floor...and all the warnings about keeping them away from ground water.

But they ARE more 'green' then those evil traditional bulbs that lack the mercury the EPA doesn't want getting into the groundwater, and don't come just short of requiring an N95 mask to clean up the broken bulbs...

camper

Yeah, I have a bunch of them that have dead ballasts that I'm trying to find something to do with. I don't want to pitch them in the local dump (via my trashcan).

[Johannes_Paulsen]

You want a REAL laugh, look at what the EPA says you need to do if you drop a compact flourescent bulb on your floor...and all the warnings about keeping them away from ground water.

But they ARE more 'green' then those evil traditional bulbs that lack the mercury the EPA doesn't want getting into the groundwater, and don't come just short of requiring an N95 mask to clean up the broken bulbs...

camper

In defense of the CFLs, even assuming they aren't recycled properly, they still put less mercury into the environment than an equivalent incandescent bulb powered by a coal-fired plant.

But I don't think people should be forced to use 'em if they don't want to.

[wa3ra]

Yeah. some 'explosion'.

My refrigerator is over 30 years old. Guess what it uses as a refrigerant...

PROPANE. plain, old, everyday propane, about 4 ounces of it.

Most over the road trucks use isobutane in their a/c systems.

I use isobutane as a replacement for r-12 in my antique.

Both of these gases are excellent refrigerants, by the way.

GreenFreeze is a system. The gas that they use is a mixture of isobutane and propane, not to exceed 113 grams...about the same as two lighters.

If it leaks, it rapidly disperses; if it 'blew up', it would be like a firecracker, make a bunch of noise, but cause little physical damage.

Where the problem comes from is that the refrigerators are insulated with blown in foam...AND THE FOAM IS BLOWN IN WITH THE ISOBUTANE/PROPANE MIX!

You know that insulating foam is flammable...now, let's impregnate it with flammable gas...

Yeah, not so good an idea.

Even the Koreans and Chinese blow the foam in with CO2.

Not the Germans, though.

Oh, well.

[ungawa]

In defense of the CFLs, even assuming they aren't recycled properly, they still put less mercury into the environment than an equivalent incandescent bulb powered by a coal-fired plant.

And the ocean contains more heat than all of the coal and fossil fuels in the world. Unfortunately, concentration (and entropy) is everything important to humans in the universe. Mass is only of concern to cosmologists and peddlers.

[Brick]

Yeah, I have a bunch of them that have dead ballasts that I'm trying to find something to do with. I don't want to pitch them in the local dump (via my trashcan).

Home depot has a recycling/disposal system for the compact fluorescent bulbs. Contact your local (closest) store.