Who Uses Refrigeration?

Fridges and freezers are some of the biggest users of refrigeration - there are an estimated 1.5-1.8 billion domestic refrigerators and freezers in operation worldwide.

Many trucks, lorries and containers are refrigerated in order to keep produce at the right temperature during transport. There are an estimated 60,000 refrigerated lorries in the UK

Most manufacturing processes use refrigeration to cool down produce quickly – not just food. And many buildings have to have refrigerated air conditioning to make sure they are comfortable for people to work in.

About 80% of a supermarket's energy bill is spent on refrigeration and about 50% of its produce is refrigerated – this includes store rooms behind the scenes and distribution centres.

Most modern trains now have refrigerated air conditioning to keep the environment pleasant and fresh inside.

Lots of offices in cities don't have windows that open because it's too noisy or polluted outside. They use instead mechanically ventilated air cooled by refrigeration systems.

Some of the most efficient modern heating systems now use something called a heat exchanger or heat pump which makes them more efficient. This is a refrigeration technology used for heating instead of cooling.

Most modern cars now come with air conditioning which is a small refrigeration system with a fan to keep you comfortable.

Computers would heat up and stop working if they weren't refrigerated.

Even though it is very cold in space, satellite components need to use refrigeration so that they don’t overheat during use. They have to be very reliable and very light!

Telephone exchanges would heat up and stop working if they weren't refrigerated.

Hospitals use a lot of refrigeration in areas such as operating theatres, storage of tissue aand blood, keeping medicines safe and even sometimes making patients more comfortable during treatment or freezing tumours.