Designed in 1925 by General Electric, this was the first
refrigerator to use a sealed compressor.
Originally using sulphur dioxide for the refrigerant, methyl
formate had taken over by the 1930's. Sulphur dioxide is not
a good gas to have leaking inside your kitchen, and any moisture
absorbed clogs up the valves in the refrigeration unit.
Methyl formate, on the other hand is apparently quite
flammable. This is why R12 was seen as the perfect
refrigerant.
Millions of these fridges had been produced by the late 1930's, with most
surviving units still working to this day. The fact that this
is such an efficient and reliable design is seen by the
fact that just about every domestic electric refrigerator
still uses this 75 year old technology.
Spam posts result in deletion of membership.