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This only works in dry climates, no? In humid, tropical climates this will not work. MotherEarth had an article on building a solar-powered freezer that uses
by chopsueyar 15y ago
This only works in dry climates, no?
In humid, tropical climates this will not work.
MotherEarth had an article on building a solar-powered freezer that uses ammonia gas. Use that to make ice, and then use the ice in an ice-box like storage device.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/6599651/How-to-Build-a-Solar-Icemaker http://www.scribd.com/doc/6599651/How-to-Build-a-Solar-Icema...
Yeah, clay is easier to find than the other materials, but the ammonia freezer does work without any moving parts.
- cubicle67 15y agoMy grandparents lived, until the early '90s, on a farm with no running water, no plumbing and no electricity. Lighting was provided by kerosene lanterns hanging in each room, and they had a number (three, from memory) of kerosene powered fridges for keeping things cold. My google-fu is failing me this evening, and this is about the best I can come up with http://www.earthgarden.com.au/kerosene.html http://www.earthgarden.com.au/kerosene.html
- pasbesoin 15y agoIIRC, natural gas -- or propane -- powered refrigerators are not all that uncommon, either. This pre-supposes more infrastructure, but it's still not electricity.
- Turing_Machine 15y agoPropane refrigerators are extremely common in the RV/camper world, likely because most of them already have a propane tank for cooking.
- gmkoliver 15y agoI just read a fascinating book, Gaviotas (http://www.worldcat.org/search?q=isbn%3A1890132284 http://www.worldcat.org/search?q=isbn%3A1890132284), that describes an attempted reverse-engineering of the same thing (back in the 80s). This was hot on the heels of the 1970s energy crisis and the solar technology boom; I wonder in what ways the drive to innovate appropriate technology has changed since then.
- ams6110 15y agoActually I'd think refrigeration would be a more effective use of solar power than electrical generation. Refrigeration works by compressing/condensing/evaporating a refrigerant. Compressing a gas is the same thing as heating it, so it makes sense. Only problem with ammonia is that it's quite dangerous if inhaled, but it's commonly used in commercial/industrial refrigeration.
- chopsueyar 15y agoThe ammonia would be in a closed loop system. By only freezing water to make ice and to keep an icebox cool (the icebox and where you freeze the water are two seperate physical locations), you reduce the risk of any ammonia related injury or contamination. You would just have a bunch of 1 gallon jugs of water you freeze and swap out between the icebox and the freezer). Like the olds days! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icebox http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icebox
- athom 15y agoMaybe you could put it in yet another container with a dessicant to draw the moisture?
- crasshopper 15y agoNo, I know Hawai'ians who use an ammonia freezer.
- chopsueyar 15y agoCan you elaborate on that? I am curious what the setup is?