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If you have a cabin somewhere, or just need a way to keep food chilled temporarily, or are looking for a way to reduce your power bills, you can turn a freezer into a fridge easily. It does not require any hocus-pocus, and will not hurt the freezer in any way. You can get a 5 to 7 cu ft freezer for $200 or less, and while a chest freezer will save more power, an upright will work just fine.
All you need to do is pick up an external thermostat, such as made by Johnson Controls (or other companies). You simply plug the freezer's power cord into the thermostat, then plug the thermostat into the AC power. Place the copper sensor into the freezer (a zip tie works great for this), and then set the temperature to anywhere from about 34 to 39F. When the copper sensor reaches the temp you set, it automatically turns the freezer off, keeping it to fridge temps.
You can power the freezer by AC grid, generator, or deep-cycle battery charged by solar or wind turbine. No matter which you use, the power required will be far less than for a fridge. Why? Just take a look at the thickness of the cabinet walls of your refrigerator (about an inch) and compare that to the walls of any typical freezer (up to 3 inches). That represents your insulation value. Also, refrigerators have defrost and moisture controls going on, which freezers don't.
If you live in a climate with freezing winter temperatures, you needn't run a fridge at all. You can place reused plastic containers filled with a salt water solution, outdoors until frozen, then place them inside a freezer. It will keep your food chilled without using any power at all.
Ha, AZ ain't cold -- it downright suxxxxx! But soon I'll get some frigid winter temps -- yea I say, when they freeze my body to preserve it, hahaha.
Nor, all jokes aside, another sage thread w tidbits of real info that are fundamental n usable
Ha, AZ ain't cold -- it downright suxxxxx! But soon I'll get some frigid winter temps -- yea I say, when they freeze my body to preserve it, hahaha.
Nor, all jokes aside, another sage thread w tidbits of real info that are fundamental n usable
Most people simply do not realize how valuable this type of information could end up being. Heating water and cooling food are 2 of the most power-hungry processes going on in the average household. Being off grid at our Maine place, we have had to do research on ways to get these tasks done while using minimal power. We have learned a lot.
SS&P seems no longer to be about providing innovative ways to use tools, appliances, etc in alternate ways for remote properties or low-power situations. Seems it is more about city life now, and the more trendy topics such as bugging out if certain politicians get elected. Zombies and cannibalism now tease the imagination. Too bad; this used to be a board where alternate and more free lifestyles could be discussed. Not so any longer.
Most people simply do not realize how valuable this type of information could end up being. Heating water and cooling food are 2 of the most power-hungry processes going on in the average household. Being off grid at our Maine place, we have had to do research on ways to get these tasks done while using minimal power. We have learned a lot.
SS&P seems no longer to be about providing innovative ways to use tools, appliances, etc in alternate ways for remote properties or low-power situations. Seems it is more about city life now, and the more trendy topics such as bugging out if certain politicians get elected. Zombies and cannibalism now tease the imagination. Too bad; this used to be a board where alternate and more free lifestyles could be discussed. Not so any longer.
We've been overrun by the mainstream!
So.. this leaves me --after mom & dad both now passed as 2 yrs ago, to leave the s. latitude of US & head norht. Orig plan was PNW. But WV & ME tookover. I like TN but Nor you see leery to use it as perm home. We need perm home not nomads, gypies, tramps & thieves, lifestyles no more --as 50s sets a new you, haha, like Jenny Craig used to say. LOL
Pffff, like we didn't we forecast it, eh Nor? I can't wait to stick to my guns & do our thing by yr's end --& get off of Dodge. But 6mos. more or so then plans will be set. My only living immediate fam member (a younger sis) is stuck w/ a good job in San Diego -- & a divorce w/ shared custody of her boy & gal, my neph & my lil niece of ages (gal 9 & boy 13). I pity them growin up in CA.
This is exactly what I do at my place in Alaska, partially due to information I learned on here, so don't get discouraged nor! You and your informative posts (as well as others) are one of the only reasons I bother to post on this board.
I removed my external thermostat that I had purchased for my freezer/fridge set up as it would kick on at inopportune times for my small power system. Now I just leave ice in the bottom and turn it on for approx 1 hour or so a day. Stuff that I want colder goes on bottom and stuff that needs to stay less cold stays on top. If it stays shut it will keep food refrigerated for several days.
Sometime in October the freezer will go off and not be turned on again till sometime in April.
How is this better than an old non-frost-free fridge? Those run on very little power and tend to be available at used appliance stores for $50 to $200 give or take.
Even one of those little dorm room refrigerators, I have one that I got new in 1977, still works just fine. Need to defrost it though. It does not have a real freezer, you can make ice in ice cube trays placed directly on the evaporator, but it won't keep ice cream from melting.
Or, a spring house, if you have a good cold spring.
How is this better than an old non-frost-free fridge? Those run on very little power and tend to be available at used appliance stores for $50 to $200 give or take.
It is better because the old fridges had no more insulation in them than the new ones do, and their compressors are less efficient. Even the small dorm-sized models (newer) use way more power than a compact freezer. Guys who are into brewing beer and need to keep it at a stable temp are far more likely to use a freezer with external thermostat, than a refer unit. In fact, this is where we learned of this system - from a local private brewer who had 4 freezers of 7 cu ft each, all running at higher temps than freezers are normally capable of.
We came back home, tossed our nearly new 20 cu ft fridge out of our kitchen, replaced it with a 17 cu ft upright freezer running on an external thermometer, and saved half our power budget for refrigeration. If you are on-grid and happy with your power bill, this may not seem important to you. But the information is still valuable and pertinent, as we never know when an off-grid place may be in our future, or when grid power rates become too burdensome.
Orig plan was PNW. But WV & ME tookover. I like TN but Nor you see leery to use it as perm home. We need perm home not nomads, gypies, tramps & thieves, lifestyles no more
The only problem I have with TN is the summer heat. This may not be a factor for you. If you can tolerate high 80s and 90s, with occasional 100F, it's a great place. We run our meat bird operation there, as local feed mills and processors are much cheaper there. Up in Maine, where the weather is more suitable to my genes, feed costs are higher, help almost impossible to hire, and the nearest processor we can use is down in RI. But again, do you plan to raise poultry commercially for meat? Your needs and mine may be very different.
I can tell you that, other than the summer temps, TN is a great place to live!
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But soon I'll get some frigid winter temps -- yea I say, when they freeze my body to preserve it, hahaha.
