Technical Field
[0001] The present invention relates to a building structure for reducing power consumed
by a refrigerator and preventing heat emission to an indoor room and noise problem
by exposing the refrigerator to an outside in a residential building and a commercial
building. More particularly, the building structure for positioning a refrigerator
outside of the invention can reduce power consumed by the refrigerator in half by
fundamentally stopping an operation of the refrigerator, when outside temperature
is low as in winter and exposing a portion except the door of the refrigerator to
the outside, prevent inner temperature from rising by emitting heat of the refrigerator
to the outside in summer, and make an indoor environment quiet and pleasant by isolating
noise generated at the refrigerator from the indoor space.
Background Art
[0002] In the above, the refrigerator commonly designates refrigerators (e.g., a general
domestic refrigerator having both a freezing room and a cold room, a kimchi refrigerator
having a cold room only, a freezer having a freezing room), which maintain their inner
temperature lower than their outer temperature, use a coolant so as to maintain the
inner temperature, and can be generally used in home or commercial buildings. These
refrigerators will be called just a refrigerator for simplification of description.
[0003] Referring to FIG. 1, in most of conventional buildings 100, an indoor room 120 is
separated from an outside 130 by one or more wall members 110 and a refrigerator 140
is positioned in the indoor room 120.
[0004] Referring to FIG. 2, the refrigerator 140 positioned in the indoor room 120 of the
building 100 operates throughout a year so as to maintain the inner temperature of
a cold room at a low temperature thereof even when the temperature of the outside
is low as in winter, spring, or fall as well as in summer.
[0005] That is, the temperature of the indoor room 120 of the building 100 should be maintained
at a constant temperature suitable for a human body, but the refrigerator 140 should
operate so that temperature of the refrigerator 140 may maintain a temperature set
by a user regardless of the temperature of the indoor room 120.
[0006] FIG. 2 is a graph illustrating an average temperature T1 of a residential space of
an indoor room 120 and an average temperature T2 of the inside of a refrigerator.
Referring to FIG. 2, the average temperature T1 of the residential space of the indoor
room 120 is about 20-25°C but the average temperature T2 of the inside of the refrigerator
is about 5°C, which means that the refrigerator 140 should operate in the indoor room
120 almost all the year round. That is, the refrigerator 140 disposed in the indoor
romm always operates all the year round, consuming power energy that corresponds to
a difference between the average temperatures T1 of the indoor room and the average
temperature T2 of the refrigerator.
[0007] On the contrary, referring to FIG. 3, the refrigerator 140 is disposed in an outside
130 according to the present invention, energy emission that corresponds to a difference
between the average temperature T3 of the outside and the average temperature T2 of
the refrigerator 140 is required, and thus the refrigerator 140 consumes power energy
that corresponds to a difference between the average temperature T3 of the outside
and the average temperature T2 of the inside of the refrigerator 140.
[0008] That is, when the refrigerator 140 is disposed in the indoor room 120 as in the related
art, heat energy emission that corresponds to a difference between the average temperature
T1 of the indoor room and the average temperature T2 of the refrigerator 140 is required
but when the refrigerator 140 is disposed in the outside 130 as in the present invention,
only heat energy emission that corresponds to a difference between the average temperature
T3 of the outside and the average temperature T2 of the refrigerator 140 is required,
so that energy consumed by the refrigerator 140 can be saved up to by half.
[0009] Particularly, since the refrigerator 140 disposed in the indoor room 120 still emits
heat thereof to the indoor room 120 even when the temperature of the indoor room 120
is high and thus gives unpleasant feeling in summer, the temperature of the indoor
room 120 is raised even more, which increases the unpleasant feeling.
[0010] Therefore, the present invention saves energy by half at the maximum compared to
the case where the refrigerator 140 is disposed in the indoor room 120. Such an energy
saving effect is most remarkable in winter when a temperature difference between the
indoor room and the outside is large. Also, in summer, a temperature difference between
the indoor room and the outside is small or the temperature of the outside is rather
higher than the temperature of the indoor room, and most of power energy consumed
by the refrigerator is converted into heat, so that the refrigerator is supposed to
perform heating of about 4kwh everyday in summer assuming that the refrigerator disposed
in the indoor room consumes power of 120kwh per month.
[0011] When heating effect represented in summer is removed, the indoor environment gets
pleasant. Also, in the case where an air conditioner is used in the indoor room, an
about 1/3 (about 40kwh) of power consumption of the refrigerator is saved.
[0012] In that case, when an air conditioner is used, the air conditioner should cool down
again all of heat generated from the refrigerator 140 and emit the same using a heat
pump, which increases power energy used in summer as described above. With consideration
of the above, since the temperature rise of the indoor room 120 does not occur according
to the present invention, it is expected that the maximum use value of power according
to use of the air conditioner provides a direct advantage in solving or reliving the
problem represented in every summer.
[0013] FIG. 4 is an exemplary sectional view of a general domestic refrigerator 140.
[0014] The refrigerator 140 includes a freezing room 142 and a cold room 144 mutually partitioned
and disposed in the inside of the refrigerator 140, an evaporator 146, and a fan 148
installed therein. A freezing room temperature sensor and a cold room temperature
sensor for sensing the temperature of an inside are installed in the freezing room
and the cold room, respectively. Also, an outside air temperature sensor for sensing
the temperature of the surroundings where the refrigerator 140 is installed is mounted.
[0015] Also, a key input part for receiving an inner temperature to be set from a user is
provided to a door 158 and a temperature set by a user who key-manipulates the key
input part is compared to the inner temperature sensed by each of the temperature
sensors to judge whether to perform cooling cycle for the freezing room 142 and the
cold room 144. The refrigerator 140 includes a controller for on/off-operating a coolant
compressor 170 according to the judgment results.
GB 2362924 discloses a through-the-wall delivery unit including a refrigerated compartment.
The delivery unit is mounted in use in an external wall of a residential property
and comprises at least one compartment, where at least one of the compartments is
cooled by a cooling unit. The refrigerator also includes interior and exterior doors
to allow access to the compartments from inside and outside the property.
GB 2051560 relates to the installation of refrigerators in hotels. A frame carries two refrigerators
which are disposed one above the other in a head-to-foot arrangement. The frame is
slidably supported for movement from a drawn-out position in which it is located in
a corridor, thus allowing staff to check and restock, to a position within a chest
situated at the wall separating two adjoining rooms. The chest is provided with apertures
situated at the level of the doors of the refrigerators to allow the occupants of
each of the two rooms to gain access.
Disclosure of Invention
Technical Problem
[0016] As the refrigerator 140 becomes a necessity, the refrigerator is used in home and
commercial places. Power consumption of the refrigerator 140 is marked to be 54kw
per month in the case of a refrigerator of 499 liters by an L company but such power
consumption means power consumption measured for a vacant state of a refrigerator.
Actual measurement while the refrigerator filled with items is really used shows that
the refrigerator consumes an enormous amount of power reaching 119kw.
[0017] A general residential building maintains the average temperate T1 of an inside at
about 20[deg.]C in winter and at about 25[deg.]C in summer. On the contrary, the refrigerator
140 should operate the coolant compressor 170 for condensing a coolant from a gas
state to a liquid state and evaporating the coolant and a fan 148 for circulating
cold air so as to maintain the inside thereof at low temperature and consume power
energy as much as a difference between the temperature T1 of the indoor room 120 and
the temperature of the inside of the refrigerator.
[0018] During this process, heat is emitted from the compressor 170 and the fan 148, and
particularly, intense heat is generated from the compressor 170. Since such heat is
mostly emitted to the indoor room 120, such heat raises the temperature of the indoor
room 120 particularly in summer, which increase power consumption of an air conditioner
being used so as to lower the raised temperature of the indoor room 120.
[0019] Also, the operations of the compressor 170 and the fan 148 generate noises, which
makes the space of the indoor room 120 disturbed and unpleasant and increases unpleasant
feeling.
[0020] However, any solution for solving the above problems generated due to the refrigerator
has not been suggested in the related art.
Technical Solution
The invention is defined in the appended claims.
[0021] One object of the present invention is to provide a building structure for positioning
a refrigerator in an outside, that can reduce power consumed by the refrigerator in
half by fundamentally stopping an operation of the refrigerator when outside temperature
is low as in winter and exposing a portion except the door of the refrigerator disposed
in the inside space to the outside, prevent inner temperature from rising by emitting
heat of the refrigerator to the outside, and make an indoor environment quiet and
pleasant by isolating noise generated at the refrigerator from the inside space.
[0022] In order to achieve the above objects, the approach described herein provides a building
structure for positioning a refrigerator in an outside, seperating an indoor room
from the outside using a plurality of wall members, and having a refrigerator disposed
in the inside, the building is characterized in that one of the wall members has a
through hole to allow a refrigerator's door to be disposed in the indoor room and
the rest of the refrigerator to be exposed to outside air, so that power energy used
by the refrigerator may reduce.
[0023] In another aspect of the approach described herein, there is provided a building
for positioning a refrigerator in an outside, seperating an indoor room from the outside
using a plurality of wall members, and having a refrigerator disposed in the indoor
room, the building is characterized by comprising: a refrigerator receiving room having
a refrigerator receiving space formed at a part of a space in the indoor room, for
receiving the refrigerator, the refrigerator receiving space being separated from
a rest space of the indoor room by partition walls; and a ventilation member formed
in one of the partition walls of the refrigerator receiving room, for allowing outside
air to flow into the inside of the refrigerator receiving room so that power energy
used by the refrigerator may reduce.
Advantageous Effects
[0024] According to the approach described herein, by modifying the structure of a building,
it is possible to reduce power consumed by the refrigerator in half by fundamentally
stopping an operation of the refrigerator when outside temperature is low as in winter,
and exposing a portion except the door of the refrigerator to the outside.
[0025] Therefore, the approach described herein basically reduces energy consumption by
a user and is environment-friendly in an aspect of a global warming due to the energy
consumption. Also, indirectly, the present invention reduces costs required for increasing
an electricity generating equipment and reduces energy used in home so that energy
may be utilized for an industrial purpose or other purposes.
[0026] Also, the approach described herein prevents a noise generated due to the operation
of the refrigerator from flowing into the indoor room, so that a resident can secure
a pleasant residential space where a noise is small. Therefore, the present invention
is a useful solution that improves quality of life by liberating a resident from a
noise pollution.
Brief Description of the Drawings
[0027] The above objects, other features and advantages of the present invention will become
more apparent by describing the preferred embodiments thereof with reference to the
accompanying drawings, in which:
[0028] FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view of a building for positioning a refrigerator in an
indoor according to the related art;
[0029] FIG. 2 is a graph illustrating an average temperature of an indoor room and an average
temperature of the inside of a refrigerator in the related art;
[0030] FIG. 3 is a graph illustrating an average temperature of an indoor room, an average
temperature of the inside of a refrigerator, and an average temperature of an outside,
explaining that power energy consumed by the refrigerator is saved up to by half when
the refrigerator is disposed in an outside;
[0031] FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional view of a general domestic refrigerator;
[0032] FIG. 5 is a schematic plan view of a building for positioning a refrigerator in an
outside ;
[0033] FIG. 6 is a schematic plan view illustrating another arrangement of a building for
positioning a refrigerator in an outside ;
[0034] FIG. 7 is a perspective view illustrating an arrangement of a refrigerator in a building
for positioning a refrigerator in an outside ;
[0035] FIG. 8 is a vertical sectional view illustrating an arrangement of a refrigerator
in a building for positioning a refrigerator in an outside ;
[0036] FIG. 9 is a schematic plan view of a building for positioning a refrigerator in an
outside according to an embodiment of the present invention;
[0037] FIG. 10 is a vertical sectional view illustrating a refrigerator arranged in the
inside of a receiving room in a building for positioning a refrigerator in an outside
according to an embodiment of the present invention;
[0038] FIG. 11 is a view illustrating a drawer-type kimchi refrigerator according to the
present invention;
[0039] FIG. 12 is a view illustrating a drawer-type kimchi refrigerator and a general refrigerator
according to the present invention;
[0040] FIG. 13 is a view illustrating a kimchi refrigerator having a door openable upward,
according to the present invention; and
[0041] FIG. 14 is a view illustrating an embodiment of the present invention applied to
a drawer-type kimchi refrigerator and a general refrigerator.
[0042] Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention
[0043] Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in
detail with reference to the attached drawings.
[0044] Referring to FIGS. 5 to 8, according to a building 1 for positioning a refrigerator
in an outside , a through hole 10 is formed in one of wall members 110 to dispose
a refrigerator 140 in an outside 130 and a refrigerator's door 158 is disposed in
an indoor room 120 in the building that separates the indoor room 120 from the outside
130 using the plurality of wall members 110.
[0045] The through hole 10 is formed a little larger than the refrigerator 140 to be installed,
exposes a most portion of the refrigerator 140 to the outside air, and exposes only
the door 158 of the refrigerator 140 to the indoor room 120.
[0046] Also, the building 1 includes a shielding member 20 for isolating the indoor room
120 from the outside 130 by shielding a vacant space formed between the through hole
10 and the refrigerator 140.
[0047] The shielding member 20 not only isolates heat and noises of the refrigerator 140
from the indoor room 120 but also blocks inflow of outside air to the indoor room
120 or outflow of indoor room air to the outside 130.
[0048] Therefore, the shielding member 20, which seals a gap 25 formed between the through
hole 10 and the refrigerator 140, has an adiabatic material such as a styrofoam having
excellent adiabatic property in an inside thereof and has an outer skin formed of
a cloth or a thin flexible synthetic plastic cover and enclosing the shielding member
20. The shielding member 20 may fill the vacant space and finish the same using a
silicon caulking or finish the vacant space (gap) by filling the space with rubber
bellows.
[0049] In the case where the size of the refrigerator 140 is fixed in advance, the size
of the through hole 10 is determined with consideration of the size of the refrigerator
when the building is built and then the building is completed so that the vacant space
with a predetermined gap 25 may remain. After that, the refrigerator 140 may be pushed
into the vacant space and the predetermined shielding member 20 may only be used to
finish the gap 25. Also, in the case where the refrigerator 140 is provided at the
point of finishing an apartment, the gap 25 and the shielding member 20 may be formed
appropriately for the size of the refrigerator 140 and the refrigerator 140 may be
installed before the building is completed, and then finishing may be made.
[0050] A power source supplied to the refrigerator 140 is connected from a power source
socket of the indoor room 120 and an electric wire 30 for supplying the power source
may pass through the through hole 10 without any trouble.
[0051] In the case where the building of the present invention is a multi-family house(e.g.,
an apartment and a townhouse house), the through hole 10 can be formed in one of the
wall members 110 that partitions a veranda and the indoor room 120. In that case,
the shielding member 20 is required and any structure will do as far as it blocks
air from the veranda 200 into the indoor room 120, but outside air is not blocked
into the veranda 200 by an obstacle, such as a chassis.
[0052] As described above, it is possible to reduce power consumed by the refrigerator 140
in half by fundamentally stopping an operation of the refrigerator 140 when outside
temperature is low as in winter and exposing a portion except the door of the refrigerator
140 positioned in the indoor room 120 to the outside. It is also possible to effectively
block inflow of heat and noises generated from the refrigerator 140 to the space of
the indoor room 120 by changing the structure of the wall members 110 such that a
heat or noise - generating source is exposed to the outside. Therefore, the present
invention prevents a temperature rise of the indoor room 120 in summer to reduce an
operation rate of an air conditioner and makes the indoor room 120 quiet and pleasant,
thereby improving environments.
[0053] FIG. 9 is a schematic plan view of a building 1 for positioning a refrigerator in
an outside according to an embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment,
a refrigerator receiving room 50 is formed at a part of the space of the indoor room
120 in the building that separates an indoor room 120 from an outside 130 using a
plurality of wall members 110. The refrigerator receiving room 50 has a refrigerator
receiving space 55 in which a refrigerator 140 is disposed. The refrigerator receiving
room 55 and the refrigerator 140 are shielded to allow outside air to reach the front
side of the refrigerator 140. At this point, the refrigerator receiving space 55 is
separated from the rest space of the indoor room 120 by partition walls 60. This concept
can be well illustrated by FIG. 10, which is a vertical sectional view of the building.
FIG. 10 is different from FIG. 9 in that it has a shelter structure at the rear wall
spaced from the refrigerator 140.
[0054] Also, the door 65 should be provided to the refrigerator receiving room 50 and formed
in one of the partition walls 60 that separates the refrigerator receiving room 50
from the indoor room 120 to selectively open/close the refrigerator receiving room
50. Therefore, when the door 65 is opened, a door 158 of the refrigerator 140 can
be open in the indoor room 120.
[0055] A ventilation member 70 is formed in one of the partition walls 60 of the refrigerator
receiving room 50 to allow outside air to flow into the inside of the refrigerator
receiving room 50. The ventilation member 70 may be a general grille or a window always
opened and should have a structure such that outside air freely flows into the refrigerator
receiving room 50.
[0056] Also, in the case of a multi-family house, the refrigerator receiving room 50 can
be more easily arranged when the partition wall 60 is formed and disposed in one side
of a veranda 200.
[0057] According to the embodiment of the present invention having the above structure,
the receiving space 55 is formed in the refrigerator receiving room 50 so that outside
air freely flows and the receiving space 55 is closed by a hinge-opening/closing door
or a sliding door. The refrigerator 140 is installed in the receiving space 55, so
that the door 65 is opened only when the refrigerator 140 is used and closed when
use of the refrigerator is finished.
[0058] The door 65 for isolating the refrigerator receiving room 50 from the indoor room
120 may be made of a material having an excellent adiabatic property (e.g., double-glazing
glass, acryl, and lexan (transparent polymer material which is also used for a bullet-proof
glass), so that flow of heat and noises of the refrigerator 140 into the indoor room
120 is blocked and heat loss of the indoor room 120 through the door 65 can reduce.
[0059] Also, when a safety system such that the door 65 is opened manually or automatically
and the door 65 is closed automatically is adopted, energy saving effect can be maximized.
[0060] Since the kimchi refrigerator 140 has a door attached at the upper portion thereof,
a structure of the refrigerator receiving room 50 and the door 65 would be effectively
applied as in the aforesaid embodiment of the present invention.
[0061] The present invention can be applied to a building including two arrangements the
same time, such that only the door 158 of the refrigerator 140 may be exposed to the
indoor room 120 using the arrangement according to Figures 5 - 8 and the refrigerator
receiving room 50 and the door 65 may be installed using the arrangement according
to the aforesaid embodiment in the case of the kimchi refrigerator.
[0062] In any of the said arrangements, the ventilation member 70 installed at the rear
wall or the side wall spaced from the refrigerator 140 should allow swift air flow
and have a crime-prevention function so that an outsider may not break into or a user
may not fall down. Also, the building may be designed such that a marginal space of
at least more than 10cm exists at the surroundings of the refrigerator 140 to make
air flow swift, and constructed always to maintain shadow as in a shelter even when
sunlight is illuminated thereon.
[0063] Compared with the case where the refrigerator 140 is positioned in the indoor room
120 as in the related art, the present invention reduces power consumed by the refrigerator
in half by fundamentally stopping an operation of the refrigerator when outside temperature
is low as in winter, prevents inner temperature from rising by emitting heat of the
refrigerator to the outside, and makes an indoor environment quiet and pleasant by
isolating noise generated at the refrigerator from the indoor room space.
[0064] FIG. 11 is a view illustrating the present invention applied to a drawer-type kimchi
refrigerator 140 and FIG. 12 is a view illustrating the present invention applied
to a drawer-type kimchi refrigerator and a general refrigerator. Such application
cases can be easily realized using the arrangement according to Figures 5 - 8.
[0065] FIG. 13 is a view illustrating the present invention applied to a kimchi refrigerator
140 having a door openable upward and FIG. 14 is a view illustrating the first and
second arrangements applied to a drawer-type kimchi refrigerator and a general refrigerator.
Such application cases can be easily realized using the first and second arrangements.
[0066] As described above, the present invention can alleviate power shortage in summer
and raise a power reserve rate by changing the structure of a building and reducing
energy consumed by the refrigerator 140.
[0067] Though the present invention has been mainly described for a preferred structure
thereof, the structure of the present invention can be modified in various ways by
those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the present invention.
For example, changes of the shapes and materials or physical specifications of the
through hole 10, the shielding member 20, the door 65, and the ventilation member
70, and use of equivalent materials are all obvious to those skilled in the art and
thus fall within the scope of the appended claims of the present invention.
[0068] Also, the present invention can be applied to a commercial building and an office
building as well as a residential building that uses the refrigerator 140.
[0069] Although the preferred embodiment of the present invention has been disclosed for
illustrative purpose, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications,
additions and substitutions can be made without departing from the scope of the invention
as defined in the accompanying claims.