So now you know that vapor compression is the principle behind the freezer. But how exactly does it work? At the core is a fast-moving stream of vaporized refrigerant that goes through a cycle inside the freezer. To get an idea of how it works, picture a river as it winds through the mountains and countryside en route to the ocean. Once it empties out, then it's taken up by clouds, turned into rain, and re-enters that river where it flows to the ocean again. Refrigerant flows and transforms from liquid to gas and back in a similar way. How Self-cleaning Ovens Work Are retro kitchens making a comeback? How can I get the most out of my kitchen appliances? How to Hook Up a Water Line to a Refrigerator How to Defrost a Freezer Today, some of the most commonly used refrigerants are HFCs (hydrofluorocarbons). Other refrigerants, such as CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons) and HCFCs (hydrochlorofluorocarbons) are highly regulated -- and banned from use in many products -- in the United States since they were contribute to depleting the atmospheric ozone layer [source: EPA].

The refrigerant begins the cooling process as a vapor under low pressure. The first freezer component it enters is the compressor (usually found in the lower back of the freezer). The compressor squeezes the vapor's particles, which heats it up and converts it into a high-pressure state. The hot, pressurized refrigerant is pumped by the compressor through a tube into the next component called a condenser. If you've ever touched the outside of your freezer and felt warmth, that's the heat coming off the condenser coils, which usually sit underneath or at the bottom of the freezer, where they can be exposed to room temperature air and cooled down. As the vapor travels through the condenser coils, it loses the heat but retains its high pressure. It is also converted into a moderately warm temperature. The now-liquid refrigerant's inherent pressure pushes it through into the next component: the metering tube. This small structure regulates the vapor's pressure so it can head into the next component.

As the liquid refrigerant heads from the small metering tube into the larger evaporator, its pressure drops suddenly, causing it to convert back into a low-pressure vapor. air duct cleaning port moodyThe evaporator also absorbs the heat, which leads to a freezing cold vapor that keeps the unit's temperature cold enough for freezing your food. sharper image air purifier noiseThe vapor then goes back to the compressor to begin the process anew.air duct cleaning antimicrobial Vapor compression isn't the only way to create a super-cold food storage environment. On the next page, we'll talk about other freezing technologies and the different styles of freezers on the market today. Rex Parker in the News Relative difficulty: MediumTHEME: "Did You Get the Memo?" - common phrases that start with "RE" are clued as if the "RE" meant "regarding" in a business memoThis was Dull.

As dull as ... well, as dull as an office memo, presumably. Even searching over all the clues, I could barely find anything remotely interesting to write about. When [Alternatives to Yodels] is your most interesting clue, man, you're in trouble. The difficulty level was pitched just right, there were very few entries that made me wince or gag, but taken as a totality, the puzzle was radically Blah. I have ALMOST (45D: Bordering on) nothing to say about it.Theme answers: - by far my least favorite of these. There are other, more plausible kinds of tails, you know. Tuxedo tails, kite tails ... - I do like how this intersects NAM () - another really bad one - why not zazz this clue up? [Memo about AN ACTUAL @#$@#$ING POET] - fantastic clue / answer pair, though sadly my first thought was "you don't use staples in origami ..." - part of the postmodern pantheon, i.e. those names that have become crossword staples since Will Shortz took over the puzzle (SELA Ward won her first Emmy in 1994) - our neighbors' daughter has one of these, so this answer came to me quickly.

I love how this word is rotationally symmetrical with MINX (100A: Flirtatious sort). You see so few BOXY MINX these days. - I ... just ... what? See, the thing about the BBC is that people in the U.S. have Heard Of It. Yeesh. Thankfully, I never saw the clue while solving this puzzle. database) that it's been in the puzzle before, usually clued as Thor Heyerdahl's boat (RA I), and only twice as the Italian network. At least I didn't get the [Algerian pop music] or [Some Bollywood actor I've clearly never heard of] clue. - goes nicely with "I DIG IT!" () - nice misdirect with "Apple" - nice noun-for-verb switchout - had EDER, then ESER, which I never bothered to change ... until my puzzle got rejected by the Puzzle Gods - put it in, couldn't do anything with it, took it out ... put it in. - I half-like this. I would never say that a car was well TIRED, but whatever. - Much older than I thought. - Had FA- and was trying to think how in the world the puzzle was trying to spell FA (FAH? when I noticed that the clue wanted a plural.

- With SELA, an important part of the postmodern pantheon. - she will be marrying Ellen DeGeneres soon, I hear. - Never thought of it as an exclamation. Like that it intersects the equally junk-foody HOHOS. - one of my best students is named DONNA. I guess that's true. - I blame this answer for R.A.I. - awesome- sad. He remembers fondly, I'm sure, when he was clued as [LeBlanc of "Friends"] - wow, nice clue. I was thinking of some scientific, perhaps astronomical "rule" - I have no idea what this clue means. Oh, whoops, it's a Longfellow poem. I probably should have known that. In fact, maybe I did. The phrase feels a little shaky to me, in terms of its stand-alone-worthiness. - what is up with this clue? Why not [Like many films], because that's about how specific this clue is. I always root for DEY over AGA. Then there's always BEY, which is what I had here at first...Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorldPS Happy Father's Day to all relevant parties © Free Blogger TemplatesYesterday, the Supreme Court granted cert to one of the wackiest petitioners ever.

His name is John Sturgeon and he uses a hovercraft to hunt moose from a river flowing through a national park.[1] How’s that for the perfect test case? This guy takes all the charm of Ted Nugent and raises it with a frigging hovercraft! If only we could harness his powers for the forces of good. Or evil for that matter. Anything other than getting drunk and killing giant, lumbering animals from a speeding vehicle. It’s not like bulls-eyeing a womp rat from a T16 back home. The state and Sturgeon both argued that, under the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, the agency has no authority over state-owned lands and rivers that are also “within the boundaries of National Park System units in Alaska.”Hey, it’s working for marijuana legalization, so maybe it can work for raining death upon Bullwinkle from the G.I. Joe Killer W.H.A.L.E. Actually, can we take a second to remember arguably the greatest toy of my childhood? The G.I. Joe team’s amphibious landing hovercraft was 4 lbs. of molded plastic joy.

Maybe it was the fact that it was both a vehicle and a kind of base holding multiple action figures. Maybe it was the fact that it would float in water, making it a valuable accessory to any pool party. But it was probably because hovercrafts are just giant airboats and therefore interminably awesome. Both the trial judge and the Ninth Circuit smacked this challenge to the ground. As Judge Jacqueline Nguyen wrote for the unanimous Ninth Circuit panel: Because the ban on hovercraft “applies to all federal-owned lands and waters administered by NPS nationwide, as well as all navigable waters lying within national parks,” it also applies to the Nation River and the Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve, the ruling said. “Even assuming (without deciding) that the waters of and lands beneath the Nation River have been ‘conveyed to the state’, that subsection does not preclude the application and enforcement of the NPS regulation at issue,” Judge Jacqueline Nguyen wrote for the panel.

“Because of its general applicability, the regulation may be enforced on both public and nonpublic lands alike.” Which brings us to the terrifying realization that at least four justices think there’s something worth deciding in this otherwise open and shut case. Dare we say they feel the courts below floated over the important issues? Seriously though, are there really five votes for declaring national parks subservient to state law? Because turning over pristine wilderness to state legislatures entirely captured by energy and mineral interests would seem to undermine the entire purpose of having the federal government set this land aside. It’s easy enough to buy off federal legislators — buying a South Dakota House member must be bargain basement pricing. Obviously this is all preliminary tea leaf reading right now, but we should fully expect to be drilling for oil in Teddy Roosevelt’s head by the end of next year. On the other hand… Hovercraft-Using Hunter Headed to the Supremes [Courthouse News]