A refrigerant used in most fridges is considered highly flammable and could pose a potential explosion risk.
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As reported on News Center 7 Daybreak, Some repair companies won’t work on most fridges because of the potential explosion risk posed by a highly common refrigerant.
Lenore Satterwaite told our sister station WSOC-TV in Charlotte about an explosion that happened in her North Carolina home last year.
“I just saw the refrigerator doors on the floor, holes in the wall,” Satterwaite said. “The whole wall was blocked in. The other side, too.”
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While fire investigators weren’t able to confirm the cause of the explosion, they were able to determine that it came from inside the fridge.
It was a modern model that contained a refrigerant called R600a, which is used in most fridges and by many different manufacturers.
Mike Maninno, who has worked in the appliance repair industry for more than 45 years, has seen the evolution of refrigeration.
In Maninno’s early years, the common refrigerant was R12, a chlorofluorocarbon that was banned in the ‘90s for damaging the ozone.
After that, it was R134a, but the EPA is phasing that out because of concerns it’s bad for global warming.
Now the refrigerant of choice is R600a, which is considered efficient and environmentally friendly.
R600a is an isobutane, a flammable substance like what might be found in a cigarette lighter.
“I’m not saying these things are going to start exploding all over the country, but the potential is there that, you know, something catastrophic could possibly happen,” Maninno said.
Despite the potential, fridge explosions aren’t common. The Consumer Product Safety Commission only has a handful of complaints about them over the past few years.
Still, Maninno refused to work on fridges.
“They can be potentially dangerous for the servicer, plus the homeowner,” he said.
This risk doesn’t just apply to the homeowner. Maninno said he worries about all the minifridges in college dorms.
Plus, there is a new trend on social media that is driving the popularity of makeup that needs refrigeration. Some parents are putting mini-fridges with R600a in children’s bedrooms.
“You know, usually refrigerators are right next to their bed,” he said.
While it’s hard to avoid these appliances, here are some ways to protect you and your family from potentially dangerous fridge explosions:
- Make sure you have good ventilation around your fridge. Don’t jam it up against the wall.
- Be careful smoking, lighting candles, or using any other open flames around them.
- Think twice before trying any repair work on it yourself. And, if you do, be careful about tools that spark.
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