2011 IEEE Electrical Power and Energy Conference

An efficient appliance for low voltage DC house

M. Amin, Member, IEEE, Y. Arafat, S. Lundberg, Member, IEEE and S. Mangold

Abstract--Kitchen appliances consume large amount of energy

in residential houses. By using efficient appliances energy losses
can be reduced. Most of the household appliances use DC
internally except some appliances such as stove, refrigerator,
dishwasher and microwave oven. The refrigerator and stove is
one of the high power consuming kitchen appliances and it
consumes large amount of energy. This work investigated on
energy efficient home appliance design to run on low DC voltage
and the purpose is to reduce energy consumption and losses. A
combined refrigerator stove unit is designed to run on low
voltage DC. The system is simulated with Matlab / Simulink and
finally a prototype is built to analyze the performance.
Index Termscombined refrigerator stove, Thermoelectric
Module, refrigerator, Kitchen appliance, Low voltage DC
appliance, peltier element.

I. INTRODUCTION

uring the beginning of the nineteenth century the debate

between AC and DC had started [1]. Tesla showed the
practical advantages of alternating current. Transformers made
it possible to step up AC voltage easily, this allowed power to
be transmitted over long distances with a low loss. This was
not easy to achieve with Edisons DC voltage and there were
huge transmission losses. Tesla's practical results were the
deciding factor, at least for the time being that an AC system
was to prefer [1]. This debate again came into light due to
recent development in power electronics [2] which gives a
better utilization of existing transmission corridors with high
voltage DC connections. High voltage DC transmission allows
more power to be transmitted over a long distance with less
losses compared to an AC transmission. Power electronics
makes efficient and accurate control of electrical power
possible. Efficient AC to DC, DC to AC and DC to DC
conversion technology are now available on the market, where
DC to DC conversion is more efficient than AC to DC
conversion [3].

This work has been carried out at the Division of Electric Power
Engineering in Chalmers University of Technology and supported by CIT
(Chalmers Indutriteknik). CIT is a foundation founded by Chalmers,
providing knowledge on commercial terms.
M. Amin and Y. Arafat are with Dept. of EEE, International Islamic
University Chittagong, 154/A College road, Chittagong-4203, Bangladesh.
(e-mail: amineeecuet@yahoo.com; yasir0202025@yahoo.com).
S. Lundberg is with Chalmers University of Technology, 412 96
Gteborg, Sweden (e-mail: stefan.lundberg@chalmers.se).
S. Mangold is with Stiftelsen Chalmers Industriteknik, Chalmers
Science Park, SE-412 88 Gteborg, Sweden
(e-mail: stephan.mangold@cit.chalmers.se).

978-1-4577-0404-8/11/$26.00 2011 IEEE

Low voltage DC system is investigated for household

application [4]-[6]. The devices run internally on DC, can be
connected with Low voltage DC system without AC/DC
rectification. Some high power appliances such as stove if
connect with the low voltage DC system, energy losses in the
feeder cable become high due to high current comparing with
existing AC system.
In this work a refrigerator and stove is designed which run
on 48 volt DC. The combined refrigerator stove unit has three
compartments. First one is refrigerator compartment, middle
one is water tank compartment and third one is stove
compartment. The heat extracted from the refrigerator is
stored in the stove and is used for cooking or other purposes.
Thermoelectric module (TEM) is used to pump heat energy
from one side to another side. Two separate TEMs are used
for refrigerator and stove. Water is used as a medium to
transfer extracted heat of the refrigerator from refrigerator side
TEM to stove side TEM. Stove side TEM extracts partial
energy from that heat and remaining energy is stored in water
tank which raises the temperature the of water. This hot water
is used in other purposes to reduce energy consumption. To
run the refrigerator on DC, a refrigerator model was
investigated by using the peltier effect. The proposed model
gives a robust, comparatively silent, harmful CFC (Freon) [7]
free refrigerator. The Peltier effect uses electricity to pump
heat. But the peltier effect is less energy-efficient than other
methods. It is due to the fact that comparatively more energy
is required for pumping energy from one side to another side
of the peltier module. In this system the efficiency is increased
by using the peltier element both cooling and heating purpose
at a time.
II. MODEL DESIGN
Thermoelectric module creates temperature difference on both
sides of it by extracting heat from one side to another side
when it is supplied by electric power. Two thermoelectric
modules are used for the system. Refrigerator side TEM
extracts heat from the refrigerator. To store that extracted heat
as thermal energy storage in stove, paraffin is used which has
the capability of latent heat storage by changing its phase from
solid to liquid at 100C. Stove side TEM is capable of
extracting some energy from the extracted heat of refrigerator
and the remaining energy is stored into the water.
1. Refrigerator side Thermoelectric module
In this combined refrigerator-stove system, the refrigerator
side thermoelectric module is used both as a refrigerator and
as a heater. It pumps heat from the refrigerator, to cool it, to
the hot side where it heats the water simultaneously for later
use.

334

The module's Seebeck coefficient at the refrigerator (cold)

side temperature [8], Tr is SMTr
SMT

The module's Seebeck coefficient at the hot side (hot water)

temperature, Tw is SMTw
SMT

Where coefficients for a 71-cpl, 6-amp module, k1 = 4.76218

x 10-1, k2 = -3.89821 x 10-6, k3 = -8.64864 x 10-6, k4 = 2.20869
x 10-8 [8].
The module thermal conductance in watts/K can be evaluated
K MT K MT
13

Where coefficients for a 71-cpl, 6-amp module, s1 = 1.33450 x

10-2, s2 = -5.37574 x 10-5, s3 = 7.42731 x 10-7, s4 = -1.27141 x
10-9 [8].

4
The input voltage to the module in volts is:

Temperature difference of this module is

Hence the current of this module will be

V
SM

3
The Seebeck coefficient in volts/K can be evaluated
SMT SMT

15

The input power in watt is:

V

SMT

2
3
SMT

SMT

6
4
The module's resistance at the refrigerator (cold) side
temperature, Tr is RMTr
R MT

7
2
3
4
The module's resistance at the hot side (hot water)
temperature, Tw is RMTw
R MT

Where Coefficients for a 71-cpl, 6-amp module r1 = 2.08317,

r2 = -1.98763 x 10-2, r3 = 8.53832 x 10-5 , r4 = -9.03143 x 10-8
[8].
The module resistance in ohms can be evaluated
R MT R MT
2

11
2
3
4
The module thermal conductance at the hot side (hot water)
temperature, Tw is KMTw
3

20

B. Stove side Thermoelectric module

High temperature is necessary for the stove. It is not possible
to get high temperature (>100 oC) using one single
thermoelectric module when the refrigerator temperature is 04 oC. Two stage operation is required to get this high
temperature difference. The purpose of the stove side module
is to get high temperature and the energy from this module is
stored in the paraffin.

21

Temperature difference of this module is

4
The module thermal conductance at the refrigerator (cold) side
temperature, Tr is KMTr

19
_

SMT

10

K MT

Total rejected heat in watt is:

1
2
And

18

The module's Seebeck coefficient at the hot side (stove)

temperature, Ts is SMTs

K MT

17

The power pumped by this module in watt is:

1
2

16

SM

Subtracting SMTr from SMTw and divided by

SMT

14

22
The Seebeck coefficient in volts/K can be evaluated
SMT SMT
SMT

SMT
2

12

335

23

3
24

The module's resistance at the hot side (stove) temperature, Ts

is RMTs
R MT

38

25

The module resistance in ohms can be evaluated

R MT R MT
R MT

26

R MT
2

3
27

The module thermal conductance at the hot side (hot water)

temperature, Ts is KMTw
K MT

28

Figure 1 System diagram

The module thermal conductance in watts/K can be evaluated

as:
K MT K MT
29
K MT

K MT
2

Where m is the weight of water, S is the specific heat of water;

Tw is the rise of water temperature and To_w is the initial
water temperature.
dT

30

dT

1
2

The input voltage to the module in volts is:

31
The current of this module will be:
V
SM
The input power in watt is:
_

dT

32
SM

The power pumped by this module in watt is:

1
2
Total rejected heat in watt is:
1
2
Hence

1
2
1

1
2

1
2

33

39

Taking Laplace transformation of the equation (39), we get

34

s T

1
2
1
2

35

36
_
Figure 1 presents the combined refregerator system. Left side
is the refregeraot compartment, middle one is the hot water
compartment and right side is the stove compartment.
In this system, total rejected heat is the sum of heat
pumped by stove side module and heat caused changing the
temperature of tank water. Mathematically it can be written
as
dT
37
_

1 1

1
2

1
2
40

Water temperature can be written as:

336

41

III. SIMULATED RESULT

The system is simulated for a 71-cpl, 6-amp module. The
input voltage is 12 volt for each peltier element. The system is
analyzed at steady state. The refrigerator temperature Tr is
varied between 0 to 4 oC. The Stove temperature is kept near
about 120 oC. Water temperature raises 20 oC to 60 oC. The hot
water temperature is kept such that it cannot raise more than
60 oC.
Figure 2 presents the variation of heat pumped by the
module with module input current. In the both cases, heat
pumped by the module increases with increasing of input
current.
9.5
9

Figure 4 presents the time variation of water temperature.

Here the dash line is the actual temperature of the water and
the solid line is the raise of the water temperature.

Ref. module
Stove module

8.5

Current [A]

8
7.5
7

Figure 4 Time variation of Water Temperature

6.5

Figure 5 presents the time variation of input current. Initially

refrigerator side temperature low, it consumes high current to
keep the temperature 0 to 4 oC. When it reaches steady state,
temperature difference is almost 60 oC, it consumes less
current since it pumps less heat energy.

6
5.5
5
-15

-10

-5

0
Heat pumped [watt]

10

15

Figure 2 Heat pumped vs. current

Figure 3 presents the variation of heat pumped by the modules

with temperature difference. Heat pumped decreases for both
modules with increasing temperature difference. At the time
supplying power to the module, the temperature difference is
zero, it pumps maximum heat energy. In steady state the
temperature difference is almost 60 oC, heat pumped by the
module decreased.

Ir
Is

9
8.5
8

Current [A]

7.5
7
6.5
6
5.5
5

100

4.5

Ref. module
Stove module

90

4
1

Tempreture difference[oC]

80

5
6
Time [sec]

Figure 5 Time variation of Input current

70

Figure 6 presents the time variation of heat pumped, total

rejected heat and heat pumped by these two module.

60
50
40
30
20
-15

-10

-5

0
Heat pumped[watt]

10

15

Figure 3 Heat pumped vs. Temperature difference

337

shown in Figure 27. The curve is showing larger temperature

gradient and it is due to the fact that the paraffin has low heat
conductivity of 0.2Wm-1k-1.

Qcr
Qhr
Qcs
Qhs
Pin1
Pin2

100
80

100

Temp.
Temp.
Temp.
Temp.
Temp.

[watt]

60
80

40
20

of Refrigerator
Heat Sink
of Water tank
of paraffin(bottom side)
of paraffin(top side)

Temperature, 0 C

60

0
-20

40

20

-40
2

10
12
14
Time [sec]

16

18

20

22
0

Figure 6 Time variation of Heat pumped, rejected heat and input power
of these two module

-20

50

100

150

200
250
Time, minutes

300

350

400

Figure 7 Time variation of different temperature of the system

IV. EXPERIMENTAL RESULT

This experiment was performed to evaluate the
performance of the stove side TEM. In this experiment, there
was no water inside the refrigerator. Initially the refrigerator
side TEM was supplied by 48 V DC, stove tank was filled
with 7 kg of paraffin, the temperature of the air inside the
refrigerator was 17 C, the temperature of the heat sink of the
refrigerator side TEM was 15 C and the temperature of the 9
l tank of water was 7 C. Figure 4.7 shows the temperatures of
the refrigerator, water tank and paraffin for this experiment.
The temperature of the air inside the refrigerator decreased
from 17 C to 0 C within 6 minutes and it was further
reduced to -18 C at the 32nd minute of the experiment when
the temperature of the water in the water tank was at 31 C.
This means that the hot side temperature of the TEM is almost
32 C. After this point, the refrigerator temperature started to
increase with the increment of hot side temperature in order to
maintain a constant temperature difference of 50 C between
both side of the TEM as it is designed. The refrigerator air
temperature reached to 0 C from -18 C after 60 minutes and
in the mean time, the water tank temperature was increased to
41 C. The refrigerator temperature increased faster than the
increment of the water tank temperature. This because of the
high temperature difference between the refrigerator
temperature and the surrounding room temperature, the
leakage of thermal energy from the surroundings to the
refrigerator was larger. The stove side TEM was supplied by
48 V DC at the 116th minute of the experiment when the
temperature of the water tank reached to 50 C. As mentioned
before, the aluminum stove tank was filled up with 7 kg
paraffin for this experiment. The hot side temperature of the
stove TEM took 254 minutes to increase the temperature from
30 C to 100 C and in the mean time the temperature of the
water tank increases from 48 C to 72 C. The temperature
gradient inside the paraffin is clear from the two curves of top
paraffin temperature and bottom paraffin temperature as

V. CONCLUSION
Due to the fact that the thermal energy from the refrigerator
is stored and later used for heating the stove, the overall
efficiency of the system is increased compared to a standard
stove and refrigerator. To implement the proposed design
practically, more research is recommended for improvement
of insulation system to improve the efficiency of the whole
system. More analysis is required to make the TEM more
efficient for extracting energy and to make the unit cheaper.
Design of automatic control system is also recommended for
the proposed system.

VI. REFERENCES
[1]
[2]
[3]

[4]

[5]
[6]
[7]
[8]

338

Bruce Nordman1, Rich Brown, Chris Marnay Low-voltage DC:

Prospects and Opportunities for Energy Efficiency Lawrence Berkeley
National Laboratory, November 16, 2007.
Clark W. Gellings, " Edison Redux: the new ac-dc debate," Electric
Power Research Institute,
http://www.powerpulse.net/techPaper.php?paperID=130.
Paajanen, Pertti; Kaipia, Tero; Partanen, Jarmo; , "DC supply of lowvoltage
electricity appliances in residential buildings," 20th
International Conference and Exhibition on , vol., no., pp.1-4, 8-11 June
2009.
Sannino, A.; Postiglione, G.; Bollen, M.H.J.; , "Feasibility of a DC
network for commercial facilities," Industry Applications Conference,
2002. 37th IAS Annual Meeting. Conference Record of the , vol.3, no.,
pp. 1710- 1717 vol.3, 2002
J. Pellis, The DC Low Voltage house, Eindhoven Univrsity of
Technology, Netherland, Sept~ER 1997.
http://www.ecn.nl/docs/library/report/1997/c97058.pdf
Rodriguez-Otero, M.A.; O'Neill-Carrillo, E.;"Efficient Home
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Future DC Residence," Energy 2030 Conference,
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Accessed date 25-01-2011
http://thermal.ferrotec.com/technology/thermoelectric/thermalRef11/.
Accessed date 25-01-2011

VII. BIOGRAPHIES
Mohammad Amin (M11) was born in Chittagong,
of Bangladesh on August, 1985. He completed M.Sc.
in Electric Power Engineering from Chalmers
University of Technology.
He is now with the dept. of Electrical &
Electronic Engineering at International Islamic
University Chittagong (IIUC). His field of interest is
on Power Electronic, Power System, FACTS
Devices, Renewable energy.
Yasir Arafat was born in Chittagong, of Bangladesh
on March, 1985. He completed M.Sc. in Electric
Power Engineering from Chalmers University of
Technology.
He is now with the dept. of Electrical &
Electronic Engineering at International Islamic
University Chittagong (IIUC). His field of interest is
on Power Electronic, Power System.

Stephan Mangold was born in Bamberg, Germany

on August 1, 1951 and a few weeks later the family
moved to Sweden. He graduated and received his
PhD degree in electronics from Chalmers University
of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden, in 1981. Dr
Mangolds employment experience includes a
position as development engineer at Diaphon
Development AB, a small startup company, which
was bought by the international 3M where he
continued as development manager for several years. In 1993 Dr Mangold
founded a Science Centre Experimentum outside Gothenburg, which later
got to be the base for Scandinavias largest Science Centre Universeum in
Gothenburg.
Stephan Mangold received the Super Innovator award from the Society
Industrial Development in year 2004 and received the Gustaf Daln Gold
Medal from Chalmersska Ingenjrsfreningen in year 2005. He is currently
working as project leader at Commercial Research and Development by
Chalmers Industriteknik.

Stefan Lundberg (S04M06) was born in

Gteborg, Sweden, in 1976. He received the Ph.D.
degree in electrical engineering from Chalmers
University of Technology, Gteborg, Sweden, in
2007.
He is with the Department of Energy and
Environment,
Division
of
Electric
Power
Engineering, Chalmers University of Technology.
His main area of interest is control and modeling of
wind parks.

339