How to Make a Chest Refrigerator

This is an insanely cheap method that will bring you maximum efficiency for your refrigeration needs. You will get top of the line energy efficiency with bottom of the line costs. I have used a meter to monitor the energy consumption of my chest refrigerator. It comes in at about 140 kwh/year. This is a lower annual energy consumption than any of the refrigerators listed at the Department of Energy EnergyStar refrigerator page (www.energystar.gov ).

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Chest freezer
• External thermostat
• A few containers to put food in (a box for dairy, a box for produce, etc.)

1. Regarding the chest freezer. . . Smaller is better than larger since it has a different footprint in your kitchen than an upright. I use a 10 cubic ft chest freezer.

2. Stores and websites/catalogs that sell supplies for brewing your own beer are good sources for inexpensive external thermostats. If you don't have a local brewing supply store, do an internet search for "external thermostat for beer brewing" and you will find several options. I use a Johnson Controls thermostat that cost about $60.

3. The thermostat has a long coil of wire with a sensor on the end. Plug the chest freezer into the external thermostat, and then plug the thermostat into the wall plug. Take the coil of wire and run it inside the chest freezer. The best place for the sensor is about half-way between the top and bottom of the chest freezer. I use wire twist-ties to hold it to a rail that is in the middle of my chest. Read the instructions for your particular thermostat to find the "swing range". On mine, the temperature may vary 4 degrees either way, so I keep it set on 37 degrees F. to make sure the interior of the chest refrigerator stays above freezing but below 42 degrees Farentheit.

4. Put a couple of boxes on the floor of the chest refrigerator, and put a grill or tray on top of them. The purpose of this step is to keep the items off the floor of the chest refrigerator. Because of humidity condensing inside the chet refrigerator, water will collect at the bottom. Clean the chest refrigerator every week so that this doesn't become a problem.

5. Organize the interior of your chest refrigerator with boxes of various sizes. I have a box for dairy, a box for sandwich meats, a box for produce, and a tray for bottled items like mayo, mustard, ketchup, etc. I always put leftovers in containers on TOP. That way I notice them and use them promptly. The hardest thing about adjusting to a chest refrigerator is the "top down" view (as opposed to the side view of the upright refrigerator). But that only lasts a week or so of adjustment.

Tips & Warnings

• Clean the chest refrigerator every week!
• The top of the chest refrigerator makes a convenient place for food preparation.

[frischy]

on 7/27/2009 Sounds like a good way to save money! I'm always looking for ways to cut utility costs. Interesting idea!