DIY - Ambient Air Fridge

[s2man]

I saw a guy in Mother Earth News, long ago, who built an electricity free ice box. He had pipes going up to a finned tube on the roof, and back down to a BIG tank of water in the fridge. When it was below freezing in the fall he opened the single valve in the circuit to let freon thermosiphon from the tank to the roof, eventually freezing the water. In the spring he shut the valve. His chunk of ice would last all summer. Of course, the box was super insulated, and most it was filled with ice. And he had to build it into the wall, because the floor would not support that weight.

[hvatum]

Neat idea.

Remember though, if you use electric heat then you won't be gaining anything by doing this. The refrigerator is basically a large heating element when the thermal system of the entire house is taken into account. All the coolness of the inside of the refrigerator is offset by heat it dumps in the house, plus a little bit (since it's not 100% efficient).

Actually you would be coming out slightly behind since the box might increase heat losses to the outside.

It might be interesting to run a heat pipe outside though, attaching it to a normal refrigerator's cooling coil. That would be mainly useful in the summer, so the fridge is not dumping heat into your kitchen. But in the winter it would keep it cool. Again though, that's only desirable if you heat your house with gas.

[Daox]

I would think that with effeciency losses your furnace is more efficient at creating heat than your refregerator.

[Gregte]

Originally Posted by Daox

I would think that with effeciency losses your furnace is more efficient at creating heat than your refregerator.

I believe that an electric refrigerator is 100% efficient at producing heat in your house, i.e. nothing goes up a chimney or flue vent as it does with a gas furnace. All the heat generated stays in the house just as with electric resistance heaters which are also 100% efficient.

The issue would be which fuel is cheaper per btu, gas or electricity.