Interior Frig Fans

WA4HTZ wrote:
I have read this thread and several others on interior fridge fans and the one thing I don't recall being discussed is the direction of air flow. If you mount the fan (or fans) on the front of the evaporator fins do you have the air blowing toward the fins or toward the door? Also, if you mount a fan to the underside of a shelf, which way do you have the air blowing, up or down?

I hope this isn't considered a thread jack but this has been a very good discussion of fridge fans and I have been puzzled about the direction of the air flow.

Thanks is advance for all of you knowledge and experience.

Ken

I have mine attached to the middle rack close to the front blowing up. The idea for me was to blow the air up to the top and back where it hits the fins and sinks to the bottom to be pulled back up.

I have an analog fridge temp gauge which I used before the fan. The fan moves enough air to keep the temperature even (I move the thermometer around and readings stay the same) and it returns to safe temperature much faster after opening a few times like when cooking. With natural convection it seemed to take forever for the temp to go back down.

In the case of our fridges, nearly all heat transfer from the fridge to the fins is by convection, and the amount of heat transferred is directly dependent on the amount of air moving across the fins. Think of it like this. You are hot and walk into a cool room with virtually no air movement. You will cool down but are depending on the natural convection of the air rising as it is warmed by your skin. It will take a while. Now point a fan at you, even a small one. It makes a big difference in how fast you cool off.