The days of the rackety, energy-gobbling refrigerator may be numbered with the advent of more efficient systems that cool with the use of magnets. The idea has been around almost as long as your standard gas-compression fridge, but it hasn't yet been viable for the household and commercial markets. Now, Cooltech Applications has launched the first magnetic refrigeration system (MRS) for commercial use.

The system is based on the magnetocaloric effect, which states that the temperature of a material can be changed by exposing it to a magnetic field. As magnetocaloric materials in the system are put through a cycle of magnetization and demagnetization, a water coolant is pumped through them, transferring the heat from the interior of the fridge to the outside air.

The basic structure of the system sounds similar to that of conventional refrigerators, which use chemical refrigerants and a compressor to keep your milk from spoiling. But that system comes at a high cost: even with recent advances in energy efficiency, they still guzzle a lot of electricity, and are running 24 hours a day. Not to mention they can be quite loud, and the gases used pose an environmental hazard.