Bananas for Scale
Refrigerator

Photo from Wikimedia Commons

Refrigerator

The humming monolith that knows all your 2 AM secrets/Everyday Objects

A standard household refrigerator stands about 1.78 meters tall, weighs around 100 kg, and holds roughly 500 liters of internal volume. It runs on about 150 watts and maintains an interior temperature of about 4°C. The modern fridge is one of the most important inventions of the 20th century, dramatically reducing foodborne illness and enabling entirely new cuisines. It is also where leftovers go to be forgotten.

Measurements

Height1.78 m
733 billionCompton wavelengths
8.1 thousandthsHoover Dam heights
1.8 sextillionthsMilky Way diameters

Standard full-size fridge

Weight100 kg
3.4 millionGrains of rice
44.1Bags of flour
33,333Hummingbirds

Empty weight; heavier when stocked

Internal volume5 tenths m³
1.5 hundredths20-foot shipping containers
26.5Buckets
7.14Human body volumes

About 500 liters of storage space

Power consumption150 W
2.5Incandescent bulbs
2.7 tenthsGarage door openers
150 trillionthsLightning strikes

About 150 watts average; varies with door openings

Interior temperature277 K
1.1 hundredthsPlasma torch arcs
1.3Antarctic winters

About 4°C; the food safety sweet spot

Width9 tenths m
4.1 hundredthsSemi truck lengths
230 millionthsAkashi Kaikyo spans
1.5 hundredthsHockey rink lengths

About 90 cm wide

Annual energy consumption1.3 billion J
3.1 tenthsTons of TNT
1.3 millionthsMagnitude 6 earthquakes
18.8 billionBubble wrap pop energies

About 365 kWh per year

Browse more in Everyday Objects