Premium Content

New Signal Chain Resources from Texas Instruments:

Use A Battery To Power Your Refrigerator Door Alarm

Date Posted: March 11, 2010 01:59 AM

A previous Idea for Design, “Alarm Sounds When Refrigerator Door Remains Open Too Long,” draws power for its operation by modifying the refrigerator bulb wiring. This may not be acceptable, considering safety as well as the warranty, if the fridge is still covered by the manufacturer.

This circuit uses a small 9-V battery for powering the alarm circuit instead (see the figure). The light-dependent resistor (LDR) is placed near the refrigerator’s light bulb. When the door opens, the bulb gets illuminated. The LDR resistance, which was very high when the door was closed, then drops. This provides sufficient bias current for the transistor T1 to turn the alarm on. The alarm circuit, which is in the collector load of T1, gets powered and operates as explained in the previous Idea for Design.

Part Inventory
Go
powered by:
 

 
You must log on before posting a comment.

Are you a new visitor? Register Here
  • Tweet
    2 years ago
    Mar 11, 2010

    The built in alarm in my LG is extremely annoying. A better idea would be to have the alarm silently call the Green Police. I'm sure they'd be happy to inform you that you'd left the door ajar.