But can your refrigerator really handle a PC’s heat, and is it even safe for your PC?

Let’s find out.

Inside the fridge, there is a system of coils and a compressor.

Person holding a laptop in front of an open refrigerator.

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The refrigerant is drawn into the compressor, where it’s, well, compressed.

The warm gas flows back into the compressor, and the cycle starts again.

This continuous heating and cooling cycle keeps the inside of the fridge cold and the food inside fresh.

Diagram of a typical refrigeration cycle.

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Nonetheless, the cycle is the same.

The fridge only has a set amount of heat it can absorb and move away from its interior.

Fridges are designed to maintain a low temperature efficiently, not to remove heat from hot things.

So the fundamental goals of PC cooling and refrigeration are different.

In fact, using a phase-change process to cool PC components is common these days.

Bothheat pipes and vapor chambersuse a liquid sealed under low pressure to remove heat from hot components.

In addition, there arethermoelectric coolersthat usethe Peltier effectto pump heat from one place to another.

These devices are also known as solid-state refrigerators since they don’t use refrigeration through a phase-changing refrigerant.

Related:Do You Need Liquid Cooling for Your PC?