There's an old cold room without a door off the kitchen in this house,
it's tiled, and has 2 stone shelves.
Maybe ice used to get delivered and stored in there to keep food fresh,

I could make a door from 2 pieces of plywood sandwiching kingspan,
but what sort of hinges and what sort of sealing would you recommend?

Would it have to be ventilated?

Could I install some kind of a small fridge unit to keep it cool?

[george]

"george [dicegeorge]" wrote in message
...
There's an old cold room without a door off the kitchen in this house,
it's tiled, and has 2 stone shelves.
Maybe ice used to get delivered and stored in there to keep food fresh,

I could make a door from 2 pieces of plywood sandwiching kingspan,
but what sort of hinges and what sort of sealing would you recommend?

Would it have to be ventilated?

Could I install some kind of a small fridge unit to keep it cool?

[george]

Even in my old 1960's house the kitchen cupboard had a tiled concrete shelf
( which took some smashing to get out!). I would have thought this was just
as likely to keep things warm as cold, but old customs die hard I suppose.

If your room was indeed a cold room with ice, I would imagine there would be
some drainage in there. A door and a small air con unit might indeed make a
good modern equivalent: you'd probably get a lot of condensation on the
stone though, and I suspect it would have needed a lot of regular cleaning
when originally in use.

S

george [dicegeorge] wrote:
There's an old cold room without a door off the kitchen in this house,
it's tiled, and has 2 stone shelves.
Maybe ice used to get delivered and stored in there to keep food fresh,

How old is the house and how big? Ice was imported from Norway from the
mid 19th century and earlier large houses might have an ice house to
store ice from their own lake in winter. However, ice delivery would
have been the preserve of the wealthy.

In the days before fridges became common, most houses would have had a
larder - a romm much as you describe with shelves of marble, which
always feels cold. Meat would be stored in there in a meat safe, which
was a small cupboard with perforated zinc sides.

I could make a door from 2 pieces of plywood sandwiching kingspan,
but what sort of hinges and what sort of sealing would you recommend?

Door hinges? For sealing, look at the magnetic seals used around fridge
doors.

Would it have to be ventilated?

Not if you want to fit a cooling unit, although larders were normally
vented to the outside.

Could I install some kind of a small fridge unit to keep it cool?

No reason why you could not, but if it was a larder, the walls, floor
and ceiling will not be insulated.

Colin Bignell

"Nightjar "cpb"@" "insertmysurnamehere wrote in message
...
george [dicegeorge] wrote:
There's an old cold room without a door off the kitchen in this house,
it's tiled, and has 2 stone shelves.
Maybe ice used to get delivered and stored in there to keep food fresh,

How old is the house and how big? Ice was imported from Norway from the
mid 19th century and earlier large houses might have an ice house to store
ice from their own lake in winter. However, ice delivery would have been
the preserve of the wealthy.

In the days before fridges became common, most houses would have had a
larder - a romm much as you describe with shelves of marble, which always
feels cold. Meat would be stored in there in a meat safe, which was a
small cupboard with perforated zinc sides.

I could make a door from 2 pieces of plywood sandwiching kingspan,
but what sort of hinges and what sort of sealing would you recommend?

Door hinges? For sealing, look at the magnetic seals used around fridge
doors.

Would it have to be ventilated?

Not if you want to fit a cooling unit, although larders were normally
vented to the outside.

Could I install some kind of a small fridge unit to keep it cool?

No reason why you could not, but if it was a larder, the walls, floor and
ceiling will not be insulated.

Colin Bignell

I suppose someone has to say putting *a* fridge in the room will warm it up:
a refrigeration unit would have to have its radiator tubes outside the room.
Air conditioning units might be sufficient though, and they take care of the
condensation too: here is a Which?
report to get you started: http://www.which.co.uk/reviews/air-conditioners
And: http://www.airconditionerguide.co.uk/

S

Nightjar "cpb"@ insertmysurnamehere wrote:
george [dicegeorge] wrote:
There's an old cold room without a door off the kitchen in this house,
it's tiled, and has 2 stone shelves.
Maybe ice used to get delivered and stored in there to keep food fresh,

How old is the house and how big? Ice was imported from Norway from the
mid 19th century and earlier large houses might have an ice house to
store ice from their own lake in winter. However, ice delivery would
have been the preserve of the wealthy.

In the days before fridges became common, most houses would have had a
larder - a romm much as you describe with shelves of marble, which
always feels cold. Meat would be stored in there in a meat safe, which
was a small cupboard with perforated zinc sides.

I could make a door from 2 pieces of plywood sandwiching kingspan,
but what sort of hinges and what sort of sealing would you recommend?

Door hinges? For sealing, look at the magnetic seals used around fridge
doors.

Would it have to be ventilated?

Not if you want to fit a cooling unit, although larders were normally
vented to the outside.

Could I install some kind of a small fridge unit to keep it cool?

No reason why you could not, but if it was a larder, the walls, floor
and ceiling will not be insulated.

Colin Bignell
OK, maybe it was a larder.

The house is 150 years old,
but originally this little room was steps down to the cellar,
later someone concreted in a floor.

At the moment it has no door,
If I put in an insulated and sealed door
then maybe it would keep things cooler and away from mice,
but as one of you commented condensation may then be a problem,
as warm air from the kitchen would get in there when I open the door.

hmmm...

Should I put an air vent in the door?

[g]

On Jun 25, 9:57*pm, "george [dicegeorge]"
wrote:
Nightjar "cpb"@ insertmysurnamehere wrote:
george [dicegeorge] wrote:
There's an old cold room without a door off the kitchen in this house,
it's tiled, and has 2 stone shelves.
Maybe ice used to get delivered and stored in there to keep food fresh,

How old is the house and how big? Ice was imported from Norway from the
mid 19th century and earlier large houses might have an ice house to
store ice from their own lake in winter. However, ice delivery would
have been the preserve of the wealthy.

In the days before fridges became common, most houses would have had a
larder - a romm much as you describe with shelves of marble, which
always feels cold. Meat would be stored in there in a meat safe, which
was a small cupboard with perforated zinc sides.

I could make a door from 2 pieces of plywood sandwiching kingspan,
but what sort of hinges and what sort of sealing would you recommend?

Door hinges? For sealing, look at the magnetic seals used around fridge
doors.

Would it have to be ventilated?

Not if you want to fit a cooling unit, although larders were normally
vented to the outside.

Could I install some kind of a small fridge unit to keep it cool?

No reason why you could not, but if it was a larder, the walls, floor
and ceiling will not be insulated.

Colin Bignell

OK, maybe it was a larder.

The house is 150 years old,
but originally this little room was steps down to the cellar,
later someone concreted in a floor.

At the moment it has no door,
If I put in an insulated and sealed door
then maybe it would keep things cooler and away from mice,
but as one of you commented condensation may then be a problem,
as warm air from the kitchen would get in there when I open the door.

hmmm...

Should I put an air vent in the door?

[g]

Such rooms weren't cooled originally, they were just cooler than the
rest of the house, north facing etc. Cooling them by refrigeration is
uneconomic due to lack of insulation, and the temps they experience
arent safe for perishable food. So they're not overly useful except as
food cupboards.

If you wanted it a little cooler, insulation between room and rest of
house plus venting the place to the outside during the night (eg fan +
air inlet) would cool it some, but youre not going to get perishable
food safe temps with any consistency that way. There are also other
passive cooling techniques if you wanted to play, and try to reach
fridge temperatures.


NT

george [dicegeorge] wrote:
Nightjar "cpb"@ insertmysurnamehere wrote:
george [dicegeorge] wrote:
There's an old cold room without a door off the kitchen in this house,
it's tiled, and has 2 stone shelves.
Maybe ice used to get delivered and stored in there to keep food fresh,

How old is the house and how big? Ice was imported from Norway from
the mid 19th century and earlier large houses might have an ice house
to store ice from their own lake in winter. However, ice delivery
would have been the preserve of the wealthy.

In the days before fridges became common, most houses would have had a
larder - a romm much as you describe with shelves of marble, which
always feels cold. Meat would be stored in there in a meat safe, which
was a small cupboard with perforated zinc sides.

I could make a door from 2 pieces of plywood sandwiching kingspan,
but what sort of hinges and what sort of sealing would you recommend?

Door hinges? For sealing, look at the magnetic seals used around
fridge doors.

Would it have to be ventilated?

Not if you want to fit a cooling unit, although larders were normally
vented to the outside.

Could I install some kind of a small fridge unit to keep it cool?

No reason why you could not, but if it was a larder, the walls, floor
and ceiling will not be insulated.

Colin Bignell
OK, maybe it was a larder.

The house is 150 years old,
but originally this little room was steps down to the cellar,
later someone concreted in a floor.

At the moment it has no door,
If I put in an insulated and sealed door
then maybe it would keep things cooler and away from mice,
but as one of you commented condensation may then be a problem,
as warm air from the kitchen would get in there when I open the door.

hmmm...

Should I put an air vent in the door?

The worst place to put one if you want to keep it cool. Traditional
larders had two vents to the outside, top and bottom. However, if mice
are a problem, you would need to cover them with metal mesh. As a guide,
if you can put a Bic biro through a hole, that is an entrance a mouse
can use.

I would have thought the simplest option would be to keep it as an
alcove off the kitchen and put a large larder fridge in it.

Colin Bignell