I mentally visualize the cold air as a liquid when I open the door, or maybe picturing it looking similar to the fog from dry ice.
Since it’s cold, it falls downward, “pouring” out onto the floor, and probably does not take more than a few seconds, though I would love to see someone capture it on video with a thermal camera.
After that, I figure it doesn’t really matter how long the door is open, until you start talking about leaving it open for 10+ minutes where you can then start to worry about the food’s temperature rising, and the fridge wasting energy trying to cool the open space.
On the timescale of just a few moments while you grab stuff, the damage is already done once you open it the first time, and leaving it open or opening/closing it again doesn’t really affect anything.
This is also why grocery stores and restaurant kitchens tend to have reach-in fridges, open from the top like a chest freezer, instead of vertical doors (though, that’s also for convenience).
Something that may help build a better model/intuition is this video from Technology Connections: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGAhWgkKlHI
I mentally visualize the cold air as a liquid when I open the door, or maybe picturing it looking similar to the fog from dry ice.
Since it’s cold, it falls downward, “pouring” out onto the floor, and probably does not take more than a few seconds, though I would love to see someone capture it on video with a thermal camera.
After that, I figure it doesn’t really matter how long the door is open, until you start talking about leaving it open for 10+ minutes where you can then start to worry about the food’s temperature rising, and the fridge wasting energy trying to cool the open space.
On the timescale of just a few moments while you grab stuff, the damage is already done once you open it the first time, and leaving it open or opening/closing it again doesn’t really affect anything.
This is also why grocery stores and restaurant kitchens tend to have reach-in fridges, open from the top like a chest freezer, instead of vertical doors (though, that’s also for convenience).