ShareDomestic refrigerator temperatures in Lebanon
A team of researchers from two major Lebanese Universities carried out a survey on the temperatures in domestic refrigerators and published the results in the International Journal of Refrigeration.
Few studies have been carried out worldwide with none conducted in Lebanon to analyse the refrigeration temperatures in domestic settings. However, reported evidence of gastrointestinal illness in Lebanon is increasing with a significant proportion of cases thought to be foodborne. Therefore, a team of researchers from two major Lebanese Universities carried out a survey on the temperatures in domestic refrigerators and published the results in the International Journal of Refrigeration.
The temperatures were on average 8°C and ranged between -5.9°C to an unusually high 37°C. Factors that influenced the temperatures were the distance of heat sources such as ovens, dishwashers or washing machines, number of family members (probably due to the higher number of door openings in larger families).
There were also significantly different temperature readings in various cities: highest temperatures were mostly found in Beirut (80%, with an average of 8.8°C), followed by Saida (69%, with an average of 8.2°C) and Tripoli (54%; with an average of 6.4°C).
This is attributed to the fact that Beirut, being the country capital, receives longer governmental power feeds compared to other cities, therefore residents tend not to get an alternative power source, in order to save money.
However, alternative power was available in 68% of the cases in Saida and Tripoli as power cuts are so frequent in these two cities that receiving an alternative power source is a priority for many. In this study, 71% of the mean temperatures exceeded 6°C, which is comparable to the results reported in the UK (70%), Northern Ireland (71%) and France (70%). This also leads to the surprising conclusion that the power supply characteristics do not have a major effect on the refrigerator mean temperature.
Hussein F. Hassan et al. Survey and analysis of internal temperatures of Lebanese domestic refrigerators, IJR 50 (2015) 165-171
This paper can be downloaded via IIR Fridoc database: http://goo.gl/eLlrUr
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The temperatures were on average 8°C and ranged between -5.9°C to an unusually high 37°C. Factors that influenced the temperatures were the distance of heat sources such as ovens, dishwashers or washing machines, number of family members (probably due to the higher number of door openings in larger families).
There were also significantly different temperature readings in various cities: highest temperatures were mostly found in Beirut (80%, with an average of 8.8°C), followed by Saida (69%, with an average of 8.2°C) and Tripoli (54%; with an average of 6.4°C).
This is attributed to the fact that Beirut, being the country capital, receives longer governmental power feeds compared to other cities, therefore residents tend not to get an alternative power source, in order to save money.
However, alternative power was available in 68% of the cases in Saida and Tripoli as power cuts are so frequent in these two cities that receiving an alternative power source is a priority for many. In this study, 71% of the mean temperatures exceeded 6°C, which is comparable to the results reported in the UK (70%), Northern Ireland (71%) and France (70%). This also leads to the surprising conclusion that the power supply characteristics do not have a major effect on the refrigerator mean temperature.
Hussein F. Hassan et al. Survey and analysis of internal temperatures of Lebanese domestic refrigerators, IJR 50 (2015) 165-171
This paper can be downloaded via IIR Fridoc database: http://goo.gl/eLlrUr
Remember to log in or register first!