Refrigerator and method of controlling operation thereof

摘要

A refrigerator in which an evaporator is separately installed in each of a freezing chamber and a refrigerating chamber such that operations of the freezing chamber and the refrigerating chamber are independently controlled, and a method of controlling an operation thereof. An operation of the freezing chamber is performed first when the refrigerator starts to be operated in a parallel cycle to convert a flow of a refrigerant such that operations of the freezing chamber and the refrigerating chamber are independently performed using a 3-way valve, thereby achieving energy savings. Further, a check valve to prevent the refrigerant from flowing to a freezing chamber evaporator is omitted, thereby achieving production cost reduction.