Solar Refrigerator

[russ]

Like I said before - there are other concerns that I am more worried about that a person can do something about.

If one reads the some sites or watches the right shows there is a possibility of a 'cosmic blast' from a star that exploded a few hundred million years back as well.

Another is what happens if the earth's poles suddenly reverse as they have done a few times in the past?

Not going to worry about those either.

To each his own!

[SteveC]

Our home runs completely on solar [PV] and has for over 25 yr., so yes, it is done easily. I despise the thought of using a gasoline or diesel generator, so we don't. We have a 'fridge and a freezer, no problem. They happen to be 12 v. models and extremely efficient, but some of the newest models of other types [regular 'fridges] are quite efficient and can do fine on solar, even running 120 v.

One thing to consider for your four-day storage is that even on "cloudy" days, we are collecting some electrical power from our panels. Not nearly as much as on bright, sunny days, of course, but some. Naturally, the darker the clouds, the less you get. So often, on cloudy days, we are still providing a fair amount of our electricity from the panels, not all of it, but enough that our batteries don't suffer unduly.

Meaning, you can figure some of that into the sizing of your battery bank/pv array.

[Independent Patriot]

Thanks for your input. However, 1) we are not concerned with insurrection, 2) we live so far in the boonies and so far from the road that lighting would not make a "target", and 3) if we did have lighting (which my posts never even suggested) visibility can easily by avoided by restricting it to a sealed room (cardboard, duct tape etc.) if necessary. Your response simply did not address the question at hand, and assumed far too much. But thank you for taking an interest.

Russ is spot on.

If a solar flare of significance did occur and delivered the WORST CASE results many fear.......then TS will HTF and insurrection will be an issue to be dealt with.

In that case.......you should be concerned about being a target. Being "so far from the road"...lol! No offense, but IF TS does HTF then you'd have to live on another planet to be safe from the possibility of someone taking what you have.

Of course this hypothetical scenario could have sooooo many different variations and depending on those variations it's hard to say what would happen. However, IF TSHTF for an extended period of time (more than a few months) then you better believe you will be found and you will be a target unless you have the means to defend you and yours.

IF TSHTF, things will go from bad to worse in short order. There will be a mass exodus of people from larger technologically dependent metropolitan areas. Mainly because food and water demands will be impossible to sustain the massive populations.........massive populations of people who dont have skills of self sufficiency and self reliance.

If you live in the Pacific Northwest then you may have a better chance. The population per sq mile is considerably less dense in that area of the U.S.

If you're serious about preparation then you need to have a balanced and realistic plan.

Start with the basics needed to sustain life:

Water
Food
Shelter
Protection (please dont under estimate this one, without it you could loose all of the above)

If you're not serious about preparation.......or at least not the level or preparedness I'm talking about.......then I apologize and ignore my crazy talk.

[ometofu]

that's so awesome!!!

i would very much like to have a solar freezer one of these days...

[bidaw]

Using a very inexpensive thermal switch from ebay, I've converted a chest freezer to a fridge that uses 160-190w a day (these are real figures...not the 100w a day figure most articles tout). It is a very effecient way to do a fridge on solar for a camp or even a household if you don't mind it being a chest style instead of a side by side.

[Mike90250]

Using a very inexpensive thermal switch from ebay, I've converted a chest freezer to a fridge that uses 160-190w a day (these are real figures...not the 100w a day figure most articles tout). It is a very effecient way to do a fridge on solar for a camp or even a household if you don't mind it being a chest style instead of a side by side.

160-190w a day That's not a real figure. That's an instatainous power reading from a moment in time. When the compressor is OFF, the fridge draws 0 watts. How long it's ON, would result in a reading of WATT HOURS. The Kill-a-Watt meters, and others like it, will read out total KWh and total Hours. Then you can figure out how much power it uses in a day.

[Sunking]

Using a very inexpensive thermal switch from ebay, I've converted a chest freezer to a fridge that uses 160-190w a day (these are real figures...not the 100w a day figure most articles tout).

No it is not real, you do not understand electricity. You do not know the difference between watts and watt hours.

I think you fridge burns 190 watts but it does so for several hours of the day. So if the compressor is on 6 hours your fridge uses 190 watts x 6 hours = 1140 watt hours. That is quite a bit of power.

[russ]

A freezer style fridge should get down close to those numbers - some energy star uprights get below 1 kWh/day.

Mine are roughly 900 watt hours and 960 watt hours per day and they are large.

I expect a smaller and well insulated freezer converted would be low.

[john p]

A chest freezer converted to a fridge would use about 190whr a day. There is no way it would use anything like the figure Sunking has given as example..
I did one years ago and while it was very good at using very little power from a battery /inverter it just drove us mad at how inconvienient it was to use. There is just no way to pack the same amount of item in it as what you can with a upright fridge AND get at them reasonably easy.
I dont now remember the exact power consumption per day but it not have been aqbove 250whr.It was about 15cft if I remember correctly. Whirlpool brand.

[bidaw]

To put everyone's question to rest...yes, I did mean watt hours! Thanks for the correction mike. The measurement was done with a killawatt ... And my measurements are an average over 2 months. The watt hour rating is really that low!

There are several articles on the subject that peaked my interest on this to the point of me buying a used chest freezer for 40 bucks and a digital thermal switch off ebay for less than 20. I butchered an extension cord...set the temp that I wanted to refrigerate and away it went! Do a google search on chest freezer conversion or solar chest fridge. I'm sure you can find it. If not, pm me and I'll send you a link.

As to ease of use...this is a garage fridge...cold drinks and extra storage for when the ole lady buys too much for the main fridge in the house! Hey, I had to have something to use my diy panels with....this was as good of project as any. It really does work great!

[Alessandro8100]

I'm working on solar refrigerator...one of my friend tell me about this and i see is really good..this is really helpful for me...thanks for everything....Nice sharing...keep it up.

[TnAndy]

To put everyone's question to rest...yes, I did mean watt hours! Thanks for the correction mike. The measurement was done with a killawatt ... And my measurements are an average over 2 months. The watt hour rating is really that low!

There are several articles on the subject that peaked my interest on this to the point of me buying a used chest freezer for 40 bucks and a digital thermal switch off ebay for less than 20. I butchered an extension cord...set the temp that I wanted to refrigerate and away it went! Do a google search on chest freezer conversion or solar chest fridge. I'm sure you can find it. If not, pm me and I'll send you a link.

As to ease of use...this is a garage fridge...cold drinks and extra storage for when the ole lady buys too much for the main fridge in the house! Hey, I had to have something to use my diy panels with....this was as good of project as any. It really does work great!

Yep.....I did the same test with a fairly standard 9cuft chest freezer (120vAC) and an external thermostat ( obtained from "Kegman.com" ). Opening/closing several times day, using a Kil-a-watt meter to record power use over several weeks, it was less than 200w/hrs/day to maintain an internal temp of 36-38 degrees.

This is my plan for a backup fridge should the grid go down in a long term way.

[DeniseT]

The chest freezer conversion seems like the most practical. The original poster mentioned only 4 hours of sunlight, is that normal? I live in the midwest and want to install some solar panels to use to power some of my house. Is a refrigerator with a refrigerator water filter one of the highest energy consuming pieces in a home?

[russ]

For the potential at your location try PV Watts http://mapserve3.nrel.gov/PVWatts_Viewer/index.html

Fridges are not all that high of a consumer but they are on 24 hours

Chest type freezers are usually chosen as the chest type is naturally more energy efficient if not as convenient - the cold doesn't run out every time you open the door.

[SteveC]

For the potential at your location try PV Watts http://mapserve3.nrel.gov/PVWatts_Viewer/index.html

Fridges are not all that high of a consumer but they are on 24 hours

Also, there are a few things which will be on anyone's "must-be-powered" list. The fridge and the freezer are two of those items. You can do with fewer lights on, you can decline to turn on the TV after supper, and so on, if your batteries are low and the weather is cloudy and etc. But you don't want to turn off the refrigeration units if at all possible, for obvious reasons. So you will have a certain minimum of power you always want. My neighbor has a home dialysis machine which runs from the time he goes to bed at night til he arises in the a.m. Between the fridge that holds his insulin and the little pump on his dialysis machine, he has a critical minimum for his PV-powered log cabin. That is a bit more critical than most of us face, but you get the drift.