But that is not what was quoted as being in the speech, and it would be good to know if it is a mis-transcription or he actually said:
“A new fridge today will measure the amount of time the compressor has run, and the number of times the door has been opened, before activating the heater.”

This is NOT a ‘P.R.’ as it depends on how long the compressor was running in each to door openings.

Having said that, the Star-K is more machmir in certain areas than many Rabbis in the braoder community. While I don’t question their motivations, by allowing them to become THE decisors for appliances, we have effectively adopted more machmir standards, when in fact, we might otherwise be more makel if we considered the rationale.

I don’t know about the refrigerator example cited in the main article, but the Star-K told me that they would not work with manufacturers to adapt the timer function on dishwashers to allow them to be preset to wash dishes on Shabbat. While one could jury rig a timer onto the low end mechanical dishwashers, the newer electronic ones cannot be used with timers. Rabbi Heinemann does not allow diswashers to be used on Shabbat so he will not be involved with certification. While other RAbbis might allow such use, so long as one does not hear the operation (newer models are very quiet), since the Star-K is the agency that certifies appliances, manufacturers don’t look elsewhere for certification and have abandoned this potential market.

Easy to read, and all very interesting.

KT,
Mordechai Cohen

Anyway, what discussion do you think this issue is worthy of? I assume that you aren’t suggesting that we should discuss whether R’ Heinemann and his co-religionists should ignore this aspect of the Laws of Shabbat, given the environmental considerations. That’s clearly a non-starter. Are you suggesting that we should discuss ideas for a more energy-efficient Shabbat mode?

However, if this unintended consequence must result in the prohibited activity being done, it is as if one had initially intended to perform the prohibited action, and the action is prohibited (i.e. dragging a heavy bench on soft earth where it will surely make a groove in the ground). This is called a psik reisha.

Opening a refrigerator X number of times, and as a direct result activating the heater to melt the coils, seems to qualify. I believe the rabbi focussed on this matter because it is more inconspicuously pernicious than the lights and digital readouts.

Curious– If you set up an appliance to do something automatically over Shabbat without your interaction, like using a timer to enable a hot plate or turn on a light, that’s just fine. But if you interact with an appliance and directly cause it to perform a prohibited labor, that’s prohibited. Some actions are obviously in violation, like flipping a light switch - you flip it, the light goes on. Some are less obvious, like these new fridges — open the door 6 times and the heater goes on, or activate the compressor for 30 minutes and the heater goes on. Thankfully, we have rabbinic organizations who employ electrical engineers to find out for certain what’s going on.