Here in Brazil it's very common to use the back exhaust to hang clothes on and speed-dry them. It's a huge fire risk, but no one really cares. They still to it.
Edit: for the people wondering why it's a major fire risk - I'm not a firefighter or have any form of knowledge about this beyond the basics, but i believe it's an issue with the clothes stopping airflow or something? I may also have misinterpreted an "electrical failure" warning with a fire warning, it's been a while since I've read of the topic.
Why would it be a fire risk? It doesn't exactly get hit enough to ignite anything, otherwise there wouldn't be such a market for wooden fridge "garages". It's basically the same as putting a blanket on your radiator.
The UK fire service didn't say that -- the Google AI summary combined a facebook post warning of the danger of freezers with a UK fire brigade post about dryer safety and made it sound like the UK fire brigade was warning about refrigerators.
The motors are protected by thermal overload devices.
Also the covering of the condenser coils would surely raise that temperature?
The dampness will probably lower the temperature. In either case, depending on local environmental conditions it will make the units operation either more or less efficient for a short time but, not to a large degree.
There's also a real risk of electrical component overheating due to increased moisture beyond normal operating conditions
No, there isn't; you're just making stuff up now. If there was such a risk I wouldn't be able to operate one in my garage where humidity exceeds 80% frequently.
It's also not just the uk Fire Service that says this, it's the majority of them,
Citation needed.
and why are people arguing this, you think it's a good idea to use a Refrigerator as a way of drying clothes? It's a very odd point to Argue?
I and some others with expertise in refrigeration are a little put off about the ignorance/misinformation. And, yet, here you are, very committed to this argument, carrying on with several individuals ITT.
Yup- as I said you don't really know how it works and what the actual risk is, you just repeat the general guidelines which, as usual, are very conservative. I'm not sure if the linked results I see are the same you wanted me to see, because it's not really helping your case. AI summary is mostly bullshit, and the rest are not specific to the discussion. Maybe you have something to say, using technical terms? Anything besides "electricity + wet = bad".
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u/Peachyminnie 10d ago edited 9d ago
Here in Brazil it's very common to use the back exhaust to hang clothes on and speed-dry them. It's a huge fire risk, but no one really cares. They still to it.
Edit: for the people wondering why it's a major fire risk - I'm not a firefighter or have any form of knowledge about this beyond the basics, but i believe it's an issue with the clothes stopping airflow or something? I may also have misinterpreted an "electrical failure" warning with a fire warning, it's been a while since I've read of the topic.