Method of operating an icemaker of a refrigerator appliance

Abstract

A refrigerator appliance includes an icemaker mounted to a door within a chilled chamber, a sealed system for regulating a chamber temperature within the chilled chamber, an ambient humidity sensor, and a controller in operative communication with the icemaker, the sealed system, and the ambient humidity sensor. The controller is configured to obtain an ambient humidity using the ambient humidity sensor, determine, based on the ambient humidity, a dewpoint temperature where sweat will be produced on an outer surface of the refrigerator appliance, determine a target temperature that maintains an outer surface temperature to equal or greater than the dewpoint temperature, operate the sealed system to regulate the chamber temperature to the target temperature, and operate the icemaker to produce ice at an increased icemaking rate.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A refrigerator appliance defining a vertical direction, a lateral direction, and a transverse direction, comprising:
 a cabinet defining a chilled chamber;   an icemaker mounted within the chilled chamber;   a sealed system for regulating a chamber temperature within the chilled chamber;   an ambient humidity sensor; and   a controller in operative communication with the icemaker, the sealed system, and the ambient humidity sensor, the controller being configured to:
 obtain an ambient humidity using the ambient humidity sensor; 
 determine, based on the ambient humidity, a dewpoint temperature where sweat will be produced on an outer surface of the refrigerator appliance; 
 determine a target temperature that maintains an outer surface temperature to equal or greater than the dewpoint temperature; 
 operate the sealed system to regulate the chamber temperature to the target temperature; and 
 operate the icemaker to produce ice at an increased icemaking rate. 
   
     
     
         2 . The refrigerator appliance of  claim 1 , wherein the target temperature is between about 0.5 and 10 degrees above a temperature that maintains the outer surface temperature equal to the dewpoint temperature. 
     
     
         3 . The refrigerator appliance of  claim 2 , wherein the target temperature is between about 1 and 3 degrees above the temperature that maintains the outer surface temperature equal to the dewpoint temperature. 
     
     
         4 . The refrigerator appliance of  claim 1 , wherein the increased icemaking rate is determined based at least in part on the target temperature. 
     
     
         5 . The refrigerator appliance of  claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to:
 operate the icemaker to produce ice at a standard icemaking rate;   receive a request to operate the icemaker at the increased icemaking rate; and   operate the sealed system to regulate the chamber temperature to the target temperature in response to receiving the request to operate the icemaker at the increased icemaking rate.   
     
     
         6 . The refrigerator appliance of  claim 1 , wherein determining the target temperature comprises:
 determining that the ambient humidity falls below a relative humidity threshold; and   setting the target temperature to a lowered target temperature in response to determining that the ambient humidity falls below the relative humidity threshold.   
     
     
         7 . The refrigerator appliance of  claim 6 , wherein the lowered target temperature is determined as a function of the ambient humidity. 
     
     
         8 . The refrigerator appliance of  claim 7 , wherein a relationship between the lowered operating temperature and the ambient humidity is stored in a lookup table, a regression equation, or a mathematical model. 
     
     
         9 . The refrigerator appliance of  claim 6 , wherein the relative humidity threshold is between about 60% and 90%. 
     
     
         10 . The refrigerator appliance of  claim 9 , wherein the relative humidity threshold is about 75%. 
     
     
         11 . The refrigerator appliance of  claim 1 , wherein determining the target temperature comprises:
 determining that the ambient humidity exceeds a relative humidity threshold;   setting the target temperature to a standard target temperature in response to determining that the ambient humidity exceeds the relative humidity threshold; and   operating the sealed system to regulate the chamber temperature to the standard target temperature to produce the ice at the standard icemaking rate.   
     
     
         12 . The refrigerator appliance of  claim 1 , wherein the ambient humidity sensor is mounted on the outer surface of the refrigerator appliance. 
     
     
         13 . The refrigerator appliance of  claim 1 , wherein the refrigerator appliance is a side-by-side refrigerator appliance and the chilled chamber is a freezer chamber. 
     
     
         14 . The refrigerator appliance of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a door rotatably mounted to the cabinet and rotatable between a closed position enclosing the chilled chamber and an open position providing access to the chilled chamber, wherein the icemaker is mounted to the door.   
     
     
         15 . A method of operating a refrigerator appliance, the refrigerator appliance comprising an icemaker positioned within a chilled chamber, a sealed system for regulating a chamber temperature within the chilled chamber, and an ambient humidity sensor, the method comprising:
 obtaining an ambient humidity using the ambient humidity sensor;   determining, based on the ambient humidity, a dewpoint temperature where sweat will be produced on an outer surface of the refrigerator appliance;   determining a target temperature that maintains an outer surface temperature to equal or greater than the dewpoint temperature;   operating the sealed system to regulate the chamber temperature to the target temperature; and   operating the icemaker to produce ice at an increased icemaking rate.   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the target temperature is between about 0.5 and 10 degrees above the dewpoint temperature. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 15 , further comprising:
 operating the icemaker to produce ice at a standard icemaking rate;   receiving a request to operate the icemaker at the increased icemaking rate; and   operating the sealed system to regulate the chamber temperature to the target temperature in response to receiving the request to operate the icemaker at the increased icemaking rate.   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein determining the target temperature comprises:
 determining that the ambient humidity falls below a relative humidity threshold; and   setting the target temperature to a lowered target temperature in response to determining that the ambient humidity falls below the relative humidity threshold.   
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein determining the target temperature comprises:
 determining that the ambient humidity exceeds a relative humidity threshold;   setting the target temperature to a standard target temperature in response to determining that the ambient humidity exceeds the relative humidity threshold; and   operating the sealed system to regulate the chamber temperature to the standard target temperature to produce the ice at the standard icemaking rate.   
     
     
         20 . A refrigerator appliance defining a vertical direction, a lateral direction, and a transverse direction, comprising:
 a cabinet defining a chilled chamber;   an icemaker mounted to within the chilled chamber;   a sealed system for regulating a chamber temperature within the chilled chamber;   an ambient humidity sensor; and   a controller in operative communication with the icemaker, the sealed system, and the ambient humidity sensor, the controller being configured to:
 operate the icemaker to produce ice at a standard icemaking rate; 
 receive a request to operate the icemaker at an increased icemaking rate; 
 obtain an ambient humidity using the ambient humidity sensor; 
 determine that the ambient humidity is less than a predetermined humidity threshold, the predetermined humidity threshold being a function of the chamber temperature; and 
 operate the sealed system to reduce the chamber temperature to a lowered target temperature.