I think a good way to start this blog post series will be to
explain some appliance terminology and what it all means. A
short encyclopedia, if you will. This is not necessarily all in
alphabetical order. I might get a little technical, but I’ll try
to apply the K.I.S.S. rule (keep it simple, stupid) wherever I
can. Compressor-Based System: An appliance that uses a
compressor, or pump, with a closed refrigeration system, and
uses a refrigerant to cool a particular space. This could be a
refrigerator, wine cooler (some), kegerator or deep freezer.
Common refrigerants include R134A and R410A, among others.
Thermoelectric / TE: An appliance that uses
electronics/electricity to cool a small space without the use of
refrigerants. These typically consist of a cooling node (Peltier
effect) and fans to distribute the air inside the cabinet and
dissipate the heat to the outside. They are, for the most part,
efficient, although there are a few drawbacks, especially if you
are trying to build it into a cabinet. I’ll del