Andy Energy wrote in
:

On Nov 25, 10:20*am, Dave Garland wrote:
Red Green wrote:
Probably cost a fortune to make refrigs that could use piped in air
fro
m
outside. And the further south you are the longer the ROI
breakeven.

Yes. *I've been thinking of doing that for the last 40 years. *It wou
ld
work best if you could build the refrigerator into the house (think
walk-in cooler, but smaller, or the undercounter fridges found in
bars). *You'd need a fan to circulate outside (cold) air in, and
dampers to close off from the outside, and a controller to regulate
the dampers & fan and switch to powered refrigeration when the
outside temperature is warmer than refrigerator-interior temperature.
*Ditto for the freezer, though even in Minnesota there isn't that
long a period when outside temperature stays below 0 degrees F. *(But
outside air could be used to cool the coils of the powered
refrigeration and increase its efficiency.) *For that (in Minnesota)
you could avoid much of the refrigeration energy for maybe 3 months,
and get some unknown improvement most of the rest of the year.

One side benefit is that if you're building the fridge, you're not
constrained to fitting insulation within a thin metal shell, you can
insulate as much as you want. *The dampers and the door would be the
parts that were harder to insulate.

But it does sound like a lot of work to accomplish.

Dave


About 25 years ago I read an article about the guy that built a
supreinsulated freezer with thermal mass in it. He used a heat pipe
to freeze it al winter and it wouel swing through the summer.

Wow this is a long ways from a door bell

I have two lighted buttons. I'm gonna burn in Hell for it. I just know
it.