How to Make a Chest Refrigerator

Upright refrigerators allow too much cold air to escape when the doors open.

Have you ever opened a refrigerator and felt the cold air pool around your feet? That is because cold air is heavier than warm air, and every time you open the fridge that cold air escapes. A conventional refrigerator uses between one to two kilowatt hours per day, while a converted chest freezer uses about 100 watt-hours a day. That is the equivalent of running a 100-watt bulb for one hour. Change your energy consumption by converting a chest freezer into a refrigerator.

Difficulty:

Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Chest freezer
• External thermostat for brewing beer
• Twist ties or zip ties
• Wire baskets

1. Plug the chest freezer into the thermostat and then plug the thermostat into the wall outlet.

2. Set the thermostat to cool the chest refrigerator to around 37 degrees F. Food towards the bottom will be colder and towards the top can be warmer, so plan your organization accordingly. The difference will be less than 5 degrees F.

3. Uncoil the wire from the thermostat and run it into the freezer. Secure the wire to the freezer with twist ties so the sensor is midway from the top and bottom of the freezer.

4. Flip the wire baskets upside-down and place them in the bottom of the freezer. Condensation will collect in the bottom, so you do not want any food to sit in the water.

Tips & Warnings

• Mop up condensation that has build up under the baskets weekly to prevent stagnant water issues. By plugging the freezer into the thermostat, the thermostat will automatically cut the power when the chest refrigerator attains the desired temperature. On average, the chest fridge runs about two to three minutes every hour to maintain the correct temperature.

References

• Build It Solar: Chest Fridge
• Eco-Renovator; DIY, Super-Efficient Fridge Uses .1 kWh a Day; Benjamin Jones; December 1, 2008
• Mt. Best: Chest Fridge