A primary beverage cooling circuit for refrigerating a fluid used in a secondary beverage cooling circuit that cools beverage in a beverage conduit by pumping the fluid through a heat exchange conduit adjacent the beverage conduit to transfer heat therebetween, the primary beverage cooling circuit comprising: a refrigerant circuit containing a refrigerant circulating through: a heat exchanger in heat transfer communication with the fluid to cool the fluid; a variable displacement compressor for circulating the refrigerant through the refrigerant circuit; a cooling device for cooling the refrigerant; and a valve for controlling the volume of fluid into the heat exchanger;
the primary beverage cooling circuit further comprising a controller for controlling the operation of the compressor and/or the cooling device and/or the valve based on one or more measurements from temperature and/or pressure sensors in the refrigerant circuit to thereby operate the system on an efficient basis.

A refrigerator includes: a main body having a storage chamber; a door for opening and closing the storage chamber; a thermoelectric module for cooling the storage chamber; an outside temperature sensor for detecting an outside temperature; a storage chamber temperature sensor for detecting the storage chamber temperature; and a control unit for applying a voltage within a range between the maximum voltage and the minimum voltage to the thermoelectric module. The control unit applies the set voltage, not the maximum voltage, to the thermoelectric module when the outside temperature is the uppermost outside temperature range among the plurality of outside temperature ranges and thus the temperature of the control is lowered and power consumption is reduced.

A two-stage cascade refrigeration system is provided having a first refrigeration stage and a second refrigeration stage. The first refrigeration stage defines a first fluid circuit for circulating a first refrigerant, and has a first compressor, a condenser, and a first expansion device. The second refrigeration stage defines a second fluid circuit for circulating a second refrigerant, with the second refrigeration stage having a second compressor that is a variable speed compressor, a second expansion device, and an evaporator. A heat exchanger is in fluid communication with the first and second fluid circuits to exchange heat between the first and second refrigerants. A controller stages operation of the first and second compressors and runs the second compressor at an initial speed less than a maximum speed initially when a staging protocol is performed during start up or re-starting of the refrigeration system.

A refrigerator includes a control module which controls a first compressor, a second compressor, a first fan, a second fan, and a third fan, in which the control module performs a high-temperature initial simultaneous operation when the outside air temperature is at the outside air set temperature or more, performs a high-temperature initial alternation operation when the freezing compartment temperature is at the freezing compartment set temperature or less and the refrigerating compartment temperature is at the refrigerating compartment set temperature or less during the high-temperature initial simultaneous operation. The control module drives the first compressor and the second compressor together during the high-temperature initial simultaneous operation, and alternately drives the first compressor and the second compressor during the high-temperature initial alternation operation.

An insulation-time determining device for a thermally insulated container with a latent heat accumulator includes energy-calculating equipment for calculating the amount of thermal energy stored in the latent heat accumulator from at least one status parameter of the thermally insulated container or the interior thereof as well as display equipment for displaying the calculated amount of stored thermal energy or a value correlated therewith. The insulation-time determining device also includes insulation-time calculating equipment to calculate a maximum insulation time provided with a safety correction factor of the thermally insulated container from the calculated amount of stored thermal energy or a value correlated therewith and a specified external temperature progression outside the thermally insulated container, during which maximum insulation time a specified temperature range is neither fallen below nor exceeded in the interior of the thermally insulated container.

A two-stage cascade refrigeration system is provided having a first refrigeration stage and a second refrigeration stage. The first refrigeration stage defines a first fluid circuit for circulating a first refrigerant, and has a first compressor, a condenser, and a first expansion device. The second refrigeration stage defines a second fluid circuit for circulating a second refrigerant, with the second refrigeration stage having a second compressor that is a variable speed compressor, a second expansion device, and an evaporator. A heat exchanger is in fluid communication with the first and second fluid circuits to exchange heat between the first and second refrigerants. A controller stages operation of the first and second compressors and runs the second compressor at an initial speed less than a maximum speed initially when a staging protocol is performed during start up or re-starting of the refrigeration system.

In an entrance refrigerator, a printed circuit board (PCB) on which heat generating components are mounted is disposed inside a housing such that air used to cool a heat sink of a cold air supply device cools the PCB, thereby preventing overheating of the PCB.

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to refrigerators and methods of controlling the refrigerators. The refrigerator comprises a compressor configured to operate at a first rotation speed and a controller configured to calculate a first average of levels of electric signals input to the compressor during a first reference period, and control the compressor to operate at a second rotation speed higher than the first rotation speed when the first average is greater than a first reference value.

Provided is a refrigerator including: at least one temperature sensor; a memory storing controls for a plurality of levels; and a processor selecting a control, from among the controls, based on a temperature measured by the temperature sensor.

A defrosting determination device includes: a condition specifying unit that specifies the air conditioning load condition corresponding to a pair of temperature inside the room and temperature outside the building based on condition information; a slope specifying unit that specifies the slope corresponding to the specified air conditioning load condition based on slope information; a frequency acquiring unit that acquires frequency information specifying the operation frequency of the motor; a calculation unit that calculates a threshold value by multiplying the operation frequency by the slope; a power information acquiring unit that acquires power information specifying power output to the motor; a decision unit that decides whether the power is equal to or less than the threshold value; and a determination unit that determines to start defrosting operation in response to the decision unit deciding that the power is equal to or less than the threshold value.