# Why do you have a fridge?



## mark.cheryl (Jan 6, 2008)

As I have been exploring homesteading, alternative enery, minimizing environmental impact etc. I have started questioning every little thing about my life and how I live. I finally got to the fridge 2 nights ago. In our fridge right now we have vegetables, fruit, milk, eggs, condiments, and leftovers (sadly none of those things from my own garden...). I know that eggs, most fruit and veggies are just fine for extended periods either just on the cupboard, even longer in a root cellar. Once we have a couple of dairy goats in production, storing milk won't be a serious concern (outside in winter, in bucket of well water in summer).

Fridges only got their start in 1911, and at that time only half the US population even used an icebox. We are so programmed to what things you "need" to have for normal suburban life that it is hard to sometimes think outside the box. My relatives >  when I talk about anything minor (like raising most of our own food), I can't imagine the reaction of not having a fridge. Fridges are acknowledged to be energy guzzlers (even the new efficient ones). This post would also fit in Homesteading forum, or even the Survival forum, but I think I might get the best answers here.

So, to the point: Could you, would you, will you go without a fridge?

MELOC, posted something about a solar ice-maker that was interesting, but my Internet searches are coming up futile.


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## Jim-mi (May 15, 2002)

As I clicked on and read this thread I had just come back to the puter . . .with a bowl of icecream and a sliced banna.
Could I live with out the icecream . . I guess I could . . .

But I shure enjoy it.

It did not come out of the typical electrical guzzler, but rather a very efficient freezer.

So yes, push to shove we all could\would go back to the pioneer days without. . . . .but for now I like having my eggs/milk/etc./etc. kept at a temp that will prolong their life. . . . . . .


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## MELOC (Sep 26, 2005)

here is a link to a pdf about that ice builder.

http://www.solarhaven.org/AmmoniaAbsorptionIcemaker.pdf


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## hotzcatz (Oct 16, 2007)

Why not a refrigerator? We swapped it for an old 4WD jeep and got a brand new ConServ high efficiency refrigerator which we have plugged into a photovoltaic system so it didn't cost us much to get the refrigerator and doesn't cost us anything to run it. We got the old jeep for free since it needed a head gasket, so I suppose the refrigerator cost us the $35 for the head gasket.

We have vegetables in it (some of which are from the garden), milk, cold drinks, etc. In the freezer part is a lot of frozen sausages, ice cream, ice cubes, frozen pig, a frozen turkey, etc. 

I've gone for decades before without having a refrigerator (when I lived on a boat) but it is nicer to have one.


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## wy_white_wolf (Oct 14, 2004)

For the solar ice maker google icy ball. Most solar setups work on the same princepal (sp?) as it (gas-absorption refrigerator).

The is an article somewhere about taking a chest freezer and converting it to a frig. They calculated that it used 100 watts a day. Solar Gary has a link to it on his site.

Modern friges are only wastefull because people demand more room interior room (less insulation), must be frost free, and it has to be upright.

I'll keep my frig for awhile. Not ready to give up my ice cold beer. One of my planned projects is converting a propane frig to work on solar hot water.


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## mark.cheryl (Jan 6, 2008)

Thanks MELOC.

OK I think we're getting closer to what I'm looking for. Eggs can store at room temperature for up to 4 weeks according to a test on Mothereart News: http://www.motherearthnews.com/Livestock-and-Farming/1977-11-01/Can-You-Really-Store-Fresh-Eggs-a-Year-or-More-Without-Refrigeration.aspx

So other than milk, beer and vegetables? What I'm starting to conclude is a chest freezer, and a tiny fridge, or another small chest freezer not set too cold would be more efficient than even an efficient full sized fridge.

I want to minimize my power bill as much as possible, and something like this could have a serious impact.


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## wy_white_wolf (Oct 14, 2004)

Here's the link to the 100 watt a day frig

http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects/Conservation/chest_fridge.pdf

It involves more than just turning up the temp to the freezer. There thremostats are set with to wide of on/off points. They use external thermostats to controll power to the frig. You can find more info on the thermostats as they are also used to make beer keg coolers out of freezers.


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## Lisa in WA (Oct 11, 2004)

I _could_ go with without a fridge, but I won't go without one. 
I'm still flying high because we got rid of the damnable propane fridge and got a little bit larger electric. It's nice living off the grid but we have a family and the refrigerator was a pretty nice invention. I don't see the need to be too hard core about the alternative energy thing.


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## Ronney (Nov 26, 2004)

Lisa I would agree with you. Nor am I into the wastage of food that would go on without one, particularly with things such as cooked meats and dairy foods. One does have to remember that we're not all in a position to milk a cow/goat on a daily basis or live in climates that are cool enough to be able to keep food in a cupboard or well - assuming we had a well. 

Fridges are among the better modern inventions and I would far rather live without the TV, microwave and computer rather than get rid of the fridge. 

Cheers,
Ronnie


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## painterswife (Jun 7, 2004)

I think it is a trade-off. I can have a fridge to store an preserve my food or I can drive to the closest store everyday to get fresh food.

I will take the fridge! It will cost me less than the gas.


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## OntarioMan (Feb 11, 2007)

"The average freezer and refrigerator purchased before 1985 uses about 100 kilowatt hours per month. A refrigerator purchased after the year 2000 only uses only about 37.5 kilowatt hours per month . This is the average measurement for a relatively small fridge. Larger refrigerators will use far more electricity."

I pulled the above off the net, it appears reasonable :
Small fridge = 37.5 kwh/month x $0.15/kwh = $5.63 per month = $67.56/yr
Assume Large fridge = 60 kwh/month x $0.15/kwh = $9.00 per month = $108/yr

With the above, I think most folks would agree that the cost of a refridgerator is justified by the convenience and practical advantages it provides. If you're going to prepare your own food, you'll probably be making "batches", freezing, using leftovers, etc. 

You can certainly convert a chest freezer to an extremely efficient refridgerator - if your willing to accept the extremely poor ergonomics and inconvenience of how the food would be stored.

Using an axe to cut down trees is a simple task - but not an easy one.

.


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## Guest (Jan 20, 2008)

painterswife said:


> I think it is a trade-off. I can have a fridge to store an preserve my food or I can drive to the closest store everyday to get fresh food.
> 
> I will take the fridge! It will cost me less than the gas.


I'd have to make a 50 mile round trip every day to get my milk.


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## Fire-Man (Apr 30, 2005)

wy_white_wolf said:


> Here's the link to the 100 watt a day frig
> 
> http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects/Conservation/chest_fridge.pdf
> 
> It involves more than just turning up the temp to the freezer. There thremostats are set with to wide of on/off points. They use external thermostats to controll power to the frig. You can find more info on the thermostats as they are also used to make beer keg coolers out of freezers.



Here is a Copy of my test with a freezer as a fridge that I did a year or two ago.

""Here is my thoughts and my test. I bought a 7 cubic feet GE freezer from Wal*marts(sure there are more energy eff. ones out there). It was rated at app. 275kwh per year, thats about 775 watts per day. Using it as a refrigerator----Straight out the box it is drawing slightly less than 10 watts per hour, at that rate it will use 235 watts per day. Thats keeping it between 35 to 45 degree's, also it is empty. If I had alot of things in it, I feel it would take less watts per day to operate once what ever is in it got to the desired temp, but then again------if I was opening it several times aday---Hmmmmmm not sure. I think I will load it down with already cooled things from my other fridge tonight and see how it does. Its interesting!! More Later. Randy""

I got my thermostat out of a old fridge, so it cost nothing for it. I ran the wire to the thermostat through the drain hole. This set-up worked Great for a Low investment.


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## Delrio (Mar 11, 2007)

The hubby and I were just talking about this the other day. When you look at what you "really" keep in the frig it doesn't really warrant a large one or maybe even one at all. But I do like cold milk so until I have a spring the frig stays!!


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## Liese (Dec 12, 2005)

It's always fun to work on these thought experiments, I think you brought up some interesting & provoking questions M.C - now if we could figure out how to keep the goat milk at 40F for a day, when the ambient temps are 80 and above, between cheese making I'd be ready to give the fridge up. Unfortunately we are hardly in a position to pay nearly $3k for a super-duper effic. one like Jimmi's - well maybe I would if I could drive it too! lol At any rate when this fridge dies I won't replace it without careful consideration.


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## donsgal (May 2, 2005)

mark.cheryl said:


> As I have been exploring homesteading, alternative enery, minimizing environmental impact etc. I have started questioning every little thing about my life and how I live. I finally got to the fridge 2 nights ago. In our fridge right now we have vegetables, fruit, milk, eggs, condiments, and leftovers (sadly none of those things from my own garden...). I know that eggs, most fruit and veggies are just fine for extended periods either just on the cupboard, even longer in a root cellar. Once we have a couple of dairy goats in production, storing milk won't be a serious concern (outside in winter, in bucket of well water in summer).
> 
> Fridges only got their start in 1911, and at that time only half the US population even used an icebox. We are so programmed to what things you "need" to have for normal suburban life that it is hard to sometimes think outside the box. My relatives >  when I talk about anything minor (like raising most of our own food), I can't imagine the reaction of not having a fridge. Fridges are acknowledged to be energy guzzlers (even the new efficient ones). This post would also fit in Homesteading forum, or even the Survival forum, but I think I might get the best answers here.
> 
> ...


Since we are childfree, it is very difficult to cook small portions for just two people (kind of a waste of energy too). So if you were to look in our fridge, you would see that 80 percent of it is left overs. If we did not have a refrigerator we would lose A LOT of food to spoilege.

It is very difficult to cook smaller meals when prepackage items (which we do not use a lot), are portioned for four servings (usually), and even ground beef and chicken are packaged in too large quantities just for two people.

Wouldn't it be silly to use the amount of fuel to cook a pot of beans for two people when the same amount of fuel can be used to cook a large pot of beans to be eaten for many different meals?

Nope, it looks like we'll be using our fridge for a very long time to come.

donsgal


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## Pelenaka (Jul 27, 2007)

As some of you know we don't have a refrigerator, but a restore 1934 ice box. 
Currently it is sitting out on the enclosed porch with the ice compartment door cracked open since it's only 30 degrees out. 
Our family of 5 dosen't require more refrigerated space than the estimated 3.5 cubic feet because we use home canned foods (majority opened & used that day) & fresh garden produce picked daily. There is also no ice box water or soda just milk & juice in 1/2 gallon jars.
Ice when needed is made in a '94 upright freezer which later this month I'm gonna envolve in a energy reducing expirement.
On my wish list is a cold closet in my kitchen.
If I had the room on our urban homestead I would love to have an ice house.
Don't know how feasible an ice house is since here in Western NY we're down to just 8 or so weeks of truely hard winter 32 degrees & below not always running consectively.

Here is a pic of an Icy Ball fridge we saw at the Pagent of Steam last Summer. 
http://thirtyfivebyninety.blogspot.com/2007/08/this-is-great-example-of-gas-absorption.html

Ice box
http://thirtyfivebyninety.blogspot.com/2007/06/thoughly-modern-millie.html
~~ Pelenaka ~~


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## Guest (Jan 20, 2008)

Pelenaka said:


> Here is a pic of an Icy Ball fridge we saw at the Pagent of Steam last Summer.
> http://thirtyfivebyninety.blogspot.com/2007/08/this-is-great-example-of-gas-absorption.html


When my mother was a kid, they had an icy ball. I sure wish I could find one!!


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## Jim-mi (May 15, 2002)

Got to do some error correcting here
Liese; . . .where did you get that $3000 that you posted about my freezer . . . .??
That afore mentioned freezer is a ConServe which I paid $600 for a few years ago. . . . not 3000.
Or I could pull some icecream out of the even more efficient Sun Danzer which is in the $750 range.
Both units have 4" wall thickness.

Those external thermostats (Graingers) wont really accomplish much if you use them on a thin skimpy walled freezer to fridg. set up.

Ronney . . .good post. . . .good points.


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## deaconjim (Oct 31, 2005)

Eggs will store longer with a thin coat of wax to keep air out.


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## painterswife (Jun 7, 2004)

I am sure we could live with less "refrigerator", but really what is the point. I could give up my computer too but just try prying it away from me.

I think you could far better put your time to more efficent use of everything in your every day life from vehicles to solar energy and more efficent building.

Ice cream, sour cream and ice cold milk are things that I won't give up. The ability to stay home and not have to face the "world" every day is another.


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## deaconjim (Oct 31, 2005)

Pelenaka said:


> As some of you know we don't have a refrigerator, but a restore 1934 ice box.
> Currently it is sitting out on the enclosed porch with the ice compartment door cracked open since it's only 30 degrees out.
> Our family of 5 dosen't require more refrigerated space than the estimated 3.5 cubic feet because we use home canned foods (majority opened & used that day) & fresh garden produce picked daily. There is also no ice box water or soda just milk & juice in 1/2 gallon jars.
> Ice when needed is made in a '94 upright freezer which later this month I'm gonna envolve in a energy reducing expirement.
> ...


A wood fired ice maker shouldn't be too hard to build, using steam for the refridgerant.


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## Liese (Dec 12, 2005)

Jim, I looked on-line at Sunfrost refrigerator just a month ago I remember their price at $2,6 + ship - for some reason from a previous posting that's what I thought you had - didn't mean to imply you are a Daddy Warbucks - sorry!

For storing eggs, just turn the carton over every couple of days to keep the yolk from settling too long in one spot. We also store cheese in olive oil with a little garlic & pepper corns. Since we do have laying hens, when I want mayo I make it fresh, mustard, ditto. If we drink beers it's good stuff - so 50-60F is our preferred temp but wine is also meant to be drunk at those temps too. It's just the 2 of us old geezers too but I only cook from scratch and as vegetarians don't have to worry about spoilt meat issue.  Yup, I think that Kenmore fridge is going to be the last of it's kind here!


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## Jim-mi (May 15, 2002)

From what Liese just posted re SunFrost (the kind that I don't have)
Off topic I know, but my point here is buying quality.
Wis-Jim has a still going strong 17 year old Sunfrost. . . .I'm quite sure thats what he said on another thread here on HT.
So for all those years he's had the advantage of using very low amounts of energy to keep all his goodies cool.
Oh ya, SunFrost--one of, if not the first to use Very thick insulation.

Yes to giving up something else so as to keep my milk and cheese and the big jug of my raw food smothies chilled.


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## mark.cheryl (Jan 6, 2008)

Thanks for the insights. I think that we will be going with a significantly smaller fridge than we currently have. A tiny fridge for leftovers/milk.


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## Ken Scharabok (May 11, 2002)

Apparently in much of Europe even today refrigerators are what we could call of dorm or compact one. Their market system is set up such that they don't store much fresh or perishable. They buy todays food almost every day. Largely they don't produce ice or purchase anything needing to be kept frozen. Even beer is served at room temperature. Frig. is sparingly used.

It would be much more difficult to do something similar in the U.S.

And, I suspect, much more expensive. 

Say you buy a quart of milk at a time vs a gallon. Four individual quarts may be twice the price of a gallon (I haven't made the comparison - just speculating). 

Say whole chickens go on sale at a supermarket for $.69 a pound. You can only buy one for almost immediate use. Someone with a freezer might buy 24. When chicken goes off sale, you pay more for your current needs. Other party just gets one out of the freezer.

Lack of ability to get quantity discounts may offset much of the savings from using a small unit.


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## Liese (Dec 12, 2005)

Jim-Mi, the OP tho wasn't about quality issues it was speculating about why we make assumptions that a fridge (not freezer) was necessary. About wants vs needs. I'm right there with you that quality is always best. For us it would be great to have a very small, efficient fridge and then perhaps, maybe a small freezer for those items that save us money to stock up on and our garden produce. Unfortunately it would seem that very small fridges are extremely inefficient here in the States, unless I've missed one M.C? 

And the 2-3yo 15cuft manual defrost freezer we bought off Craig's list does cost us approx $5-10/month to run depending on the temps. , so let's avg that out at $7/month - that means the first $84 I save by buying in bulk is a wash. As herbivores this isn't paying off for us. Nothing like doing the maths after the purchase eh?


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## Jim-mi (May 15, 2002)

An ideal way to go would be to buy two SunDanzer's.
Either the5.8 or the 8 Cu Ft.
Get the optional thermostat kit so as to use one unit as a fridge.
Now you will have two highly efficient units to keep your veggies and your icecream at the proper temps.

And best of all these units can be powered by a suficient amount of PV pannels and a *battery*.

mark&cheryl; perhaps you can tell I am really against those monster energy hoggs with the * His & Her * icecubemakers (and the puter to tell the store when you are low on horseradish).
But am very happy with my small highly efficient "coolers"


rant off


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## Steve L. (Feb 23, 2004)

I live alone, and haven't used a 'fridge for close to 15 years. Food doesn't spoil anywhere near as fast as some people claim. I keep meaning to dig a pit cooler, but haven't gotten around to doing it. The life style is a little different, but it works for me. :shrug:


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## Guest (Jan 21, 2008)

Steve L. said:


> Food doesn't spoil anywhere near as fast as some people claim.


It spoils really fast when the ambient temp is 115*


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## StaceyS (Nov 19, 2003)

I don't have a fridge either. If I buy meat, I can it the same day. I also can dried beans in large batches (to make it worth the energy). I don't drink milk and rarely have eggs, so it just doesn't seem necessary. The only real draw back for me is mayonaise. I have to scavenge those little packets from 7-11. For salads I just use oil and vinegar instead of store-bought dressings. It takes a little self-control (I love to cook), but for a single person I don't have a problem living without one.


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## Liese (Dec 12, 2005)

A super quick google for SunDanzer shows up a price of almost $1k for the 5.8 and over 1k for the 8! Ouch! They may be built fantastically but ouch! 

Leftovers here are the next day's lunch or breakfast. Stacey - you can make really great mayo in about 4 min. or less with a stick blender. Granted you would have to buy eggs from someone but maybe a neighbor would sell you half dozens?


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## StaceyS (Nov 19, 2003)

Leslie - I haven't tried it yet, but I was going to experiment making mayo with dehydrated eggs. I've been trying to find farm-fresh eggs in my area for some time. I can't stand the store-bought eggs. When I get desperate - I just emulsify oil with vinegar. Not quite the same, but it works.


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## kbabin (Aug 1, 2006)

wy_white_wolf said:


> ...One of my planned projects is converting a propane frig to work on solar hot water.


Please post more about this plan. I was thinking of the same thing a week ago. I thought it would be nice to have a fridge with two coil systems. One to use winter temps and one that worked from solar heat.

Kevin


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## sgl42 (Jan 20, 2004)

For me personally, I like fridges, so I'd like to keep it. However, various ways to use it less, get a more efficient one, etc, are always of interest to me.

Here's an interesting blog entry you may be interested in re: low energy food preservation, which talks about alternatives to the fridge/freezer and/or canner: 
http://casaubonsbook.blogspot.com/2007/07/low-energy-food-preservation.html
The person who does this blog also posts in on this forum (Coutryside Families) under the name "Sharon in NY". (forgot to mention, she's giving up her fridge, tho keeping a freezer and putting a frozen jug of water in the fridge every day. no one post, but you can read about it in some of her posts.)

At one time in the past, I found a link to someone who essentially made an indoor icebox. Essentially, it was a big 4'x4'x8' tall box filled with water, with a one-way heat tube that would cause the water to turn to ice during the winter. The "fridge" was then attached to the front of this box, so it stayed cold. As I recall, it took about a week of 20 F temps to freeze the water solid, and that would last him most of the year. He lived in a northern climate tho. Wouldn't work here in TX! But I always liked the idea, and a lot easier than sawing and hauling big blocks of ice like they did in the "old days"

--sgl


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## Steve L. (Feb 23, 2004)

ladycat said:


> It spoils really fast when the ambient temp is 115*


 The highest temp recorded in Geneva, NY since 1900 was 105Â°F.


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## SimplerTimez (Jan 20, 2008)

sgl42 said:


> For me personally, I like fridges, so I'd like to keep it. However, various ways to use it less, get a more efficient one, etc, are always of interest to me.
> 
> Here's an interesting blog entry you may be interested in re: low energy food preservation, which talks about alternatives to the fridge/freezer and/or canner:
> http://casaubonsbook.blogspot.com/2007/07/low-energy-food-preservation.html
> ...


Did you happen to see the $2.00 refrigerator link in one of the comments on Sharon's work (terrific by the way!) called the Zeer pot? If it works in Africa, heck it might even work in Texas  It was very interesting. 

I'm posting the link here in case anyone was interested in this simple model fridge.

http://www.energybulletin.net/22792.html


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## Liese (Dec 12, 2005)

sgl, thanks for posting that blog link from Sharon's blog to Crunchy Chicken to NoImpact Man to .... whew lots of good writing out there!


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## sgl42 (Jan 20, 2004)

SimplerTimez said:


> Did you happen to see the $2.00 refrigerator link in one of the comments on Sharon's work (terrific by the way!) called the Zeer pot? If it works in Africa, heck it might even work in Texas


glad you liked the link.

I've seen/heard of those evaporative coolers before. They are another really neat solution that doesn't work well here in very humid texas, unfortunately. Same with "swamp coolers", which work in dry hot places like arizona, but not wet hot places like much of texas. 

it is amazing what info you can find about alternative ways once you start looking for it. (and open your mind up to the possibilities.)



Liese said:


> sgl, thanks for posting that blog link from Sharon's blog to Crunchy Chicken to NoImpact Man to .... whew lots of good writing out there!


glad you liked it. 

Did you find "Little Blog in the Big Woods" from there too? (http://littlebloginthebigwoods.blogspot.com/) I really like that one, which I only discovered a month or so ago. It's part pragmatic from someone who's been living off-grid for , but it also has some really lovely poetic/philisophical entries, eg: 
http://littlebloginthebigwoods.blogspot.com/2007/09/turn-of-year.html

in fact, that reminds me that he's been living without a fridge for 30 years. Here's his blog entry about that. You can also search his blog, as I think he talks a little bit more about that here and there, but here's a bunch of info all in one entry:
http://littlebloginthebigwoods.blogspot.com/2007/03/no-refrigerator-for-30-years.html

--sgl


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## Guest (Jan 23, 2008)

sgl42 said:


> glad you liked the link.
> 
> I've seen/heard of those evaporative coolers before. They are another really neat solution that doesn't work well here in very humid texas, unfortunately. Same with "swamp coolers", which work in dry hot places like arizona, but not wet hot places like much of texas.


Evaporative cooling works very well in my part of Texas, where it's very dry.


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## WisJim (Jan 14, 2004)

About 30 years ago we moved to an off-grid home and didn't have any refrigeration at first. We found that we couldn't keep milk, butter, or eggs very well, so a friend loaned us a small camper sized LP refrigerator. We soon found a Servel LP refrig that was a bit bigger, and used it for quite a few years. We make large quantities of soups, stews, and casseroles so that we can have a couple of meals from the original batch, so I guess that I would have to say that our refrigerator is primarily used to store left-overs.

We bought a Sun Frost, as Jim-mi mentioned, probably around 1985 or so, because we were concerned with fumes from the LP gas refrigerator's burner venting into the house, and also the cost of LP over the years. We felt justified to spend the $2000 or so on the 12 cu ft Sun Frost just to save the LP expense. This was also around the time that we got our first PV panels so we were no longer dependent just on our wind genertor for electricity.

We have since moved to a grid connected house and still have the Sun Frost, although we also have a 120 volt AC refrigerator in the house, and use the Sun Frost mostly for produce and fresh foods in the summer.

Currently, our kitchen refrigerator, which is a refrigerator only model becuase we didn't want self-defrosting or similar features, has milk, butter, cream, salad dressing, yogurt, eggs, cheese, bread, pickles, and a few containers of left overs which will be either lunches for us to take to work or supper over the next few days. I am sure that would could survive without a refrigerator, as we don't drink much milk and some of the other items might keep without refrigeration, or we could make them in smaller batches, but it sure is convenient to have all of that cooled storage at our fingertips in the kitchen. We do have a freezer just a few steps away in the basement, and don't feel a loss of convenience in having to go to it for frozen items. And we do use the freezer space for lots of home grown fruits and vegetables plus some pork, venison, chicken and beef.


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## wy_white_wolf (Oct 14, 2004)

kbabin said:


> Please post more about this plan. I was thinking of the same thing a week ago. I thought it would be nice to have a fridge with two coil systems. One to use winter temps and one that worked from solar heat.
> 
> Kevin


Can't post anymore than basics on it untill I tear the frig apart and don't want to do that untill I'm Ready.

Basicly propane friges use heat to evaporate ammonia from water so I will use solar hot water instead of propane to provide the heat. Hopefully It will be able to last through the night without getting to warm.


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## Ken Scharabok (May 11, 2002)

About 25 years ago I visited with a family in CO. They had a porch you can walk under. They were toying with the idea of making refrigerator ice blocks in 5-gallon buckets during the winter, taking them inside only long enough to loosen the block, then storing them under the porch in sawdust. Unfortunately I didn't followed up afterwards to see if it worked for them.


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## raymilosh (Jan 12, 2005)

I have noticed that during harvest time/ canning time in summer, I fill my large refrigerator to capacity. (My house is the canning center for a decent sized community because I have set up a good outdoor propane fired kitchen and a large wood fired canner.) the refrigerator in't really necessary... we could just can stuff more frequently. But it is a nice convenience. 
In the other seasons, however, the refrigerator is nearly empty. I have toyed with the idea of turning it off and using it as a cupboard during those seasons and setting a dorm style refrigerator inside it for those few things that I like really need to be kept cool or frozen. We get cool season crops like peppers, greens and brassicas all winter long that keep longer if kept cool. Again, not necessary, but convenient. The weather in the winter here isn't stable/ cool enough to store things outside. (We have had some nights this january that were 11 degrees and other days in the upper 70's).
All that being said, I have one neighbor who uses only a cooler and another who uses only a smallish chest freezer. Both households seem to operate smoothly and both have kids. the folks with the freezer are able to use it to keep the goat milk, make cheese, soap, etc., so it can obviiously be done. It jsut takes some getting used to.


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