Super-efficient Refrigerator

[politicat]

Rather than throwing the cold air on the floor, this conversion refrigerator keeps its cold air.

It uses about 37 kW per year (as opposed to the best in class Energy Star refrigerators that use about 400 kW per year).

http://mtbest.net/chest_fridge.html

[melnjones]

1. Ooh, very cool.

I want one. Stop showing me cool things that I can buy...I'm becoming an addict.

[politicat]

2. Sorry. I'll stop.

On edit: Hey, you posted the Toilet Sink and started up toilet sink lust. Think of it as retribution for lust so excessive that if I were still Catholic, I'd have a mortal sin on my soul. Covetousness is so bad....

Though I'm lusting in my heart after that thing, too. $30 for the parts and $200 for a chest freezer.... and it's efficient? Sign me up!! Makes me look at the one I have with a jaundiced eye.

I'm thinking I can get $250 for the one I have - it's as efficient as anything Sears sells, has the icemaker and the water through the door, and looks real good... Have to get used to making ice again, but is that really such a bad thing?

Now if I can just remember how to solder....

Okay, I will really stop now!

(Sorry, friend. Immigration chatter in GD makes me a little loopy.)

[melnjones]

3. question...

If this dude who made the fridge is in australia, will the conversion kit work with our electrical system here? I'd have to buy the whole kit b/c, yeah, no way I can figure out how to put that thing together on my own.

BTW, nice avatar.

[politicat]

7. Thanks.

Yes. It should work. Australia is on 230V I plugs, but those can be converted. A power modulator (Radio Shack used to carry an in-line version; I'm sure they're still available) is not terribly expensive.

However, I'm looking at his plans again, and thinking that this: http://homebrewer.zoovy.com/product/BE875?META=froogle-BE875 would work just as well and without the import fees. It's a thermostat for converting a chest freezer into a beer keg refrigerator (there are some that even drill holes and install taps!) and it's essentially the same thing.

Let me get paid this week and finish emptying my chest freezer, then I'll buy this and see what I can do with it.

[Delphinus]

4. That is lovely and quite synchronous that you posted it!

My fridge, here in the US, is probably 25 years old. It's still working, keeping the temperature cold and the freezer freezing, but it seems to run an awful lot and it seems to be "rattling" more than usual.

Would it be best to bring out a technician and have them look at it or just go ahead and purchase a newer, more energy efficient model? Any thoughts on this?

Thanks!

[Lorien]

5. Check the air intake at the bottom

it may be filled with dust, which causes the rattle and reduces efficiency. You can simply vacuum some of them out. Others require removal of the grate covering before they can be cleaned.

[politicat]

6. A 25 year old fridge is going to use about 2x the power of a new one.

We've just gotten better with motors and heat exchangers since 1980. CAD means that we can design for efficiency far better than the pencil and sliderule set could, and computer aided manufacturing means we can build things that are far more compact. The average 1980 fridge used about 900 KwH per year. The current standard is about 400-420 depending on features. Plus a 1980 vintage still has the bad Freon (eats the ozone) and can't just be dumped on the scrap heap like a newer one can be.

I'd replace it, and maybe with a chest, but that would be up to you. A drawer freezer is supposed to be far more efficient, and there are some really good, green fridges out there (though thankfully not avocado.)

[Kolesar]

8. How do you clean a chest refrigerator?

Is there some sort of drain on the bottom to drain out rinse water? I met a man who is living off the grid who built a chest refrigerator with marine-refrigerator parts. I never asked him that question. The man has all of 120 Watts of solar panels and a storage battery.

[politicat]

9. Same way I clean my chest freezer.

Empty it into coolers, unplug and let defrost with a couple of towels in the bottom. Wipe out.

It's not difficult, over all... of course, not letting it get nasty is a good thing....