Bobbo wrote:
ewarnerusa wrote:
I think the only thing "running" when an absorption refrigerator duty cycle is on is that an element is heating the ammonia. So I think I would be bypassing any refrigerator thermostat and just applying a bit of heat to the ammonia. Since the diversion load current wattage would never be even as much as the OEM 120v element, I'm not sure if it really gets hot enough to achieve the cooling cycle. I don't fully understand the systems, just the high level idea.
Which, since it accomplishes no effective work, is still wasting that energy while at the same time adding to the degradation of the heating element over time.
If all the diversion load would accomplish in this scenario is to preheat the ammonia rather than boiling it, that is still offsetting work the propane burner would have to do to get it boiling once the thermostat calls for it.
I'm not really considering the fridge element as a candidate, it seems like the hot water tank is a much better sink for extra current turned to heat. It was more of a brainstorm of another place to dump it.
