4 ms·

From the article:"I wonder why no company has thought of this easy way to cut energy use in fridges?" I suspect they probably have thought of this. But to me,

by JunkDNA 17y ago

From the article:"I wonder why no company has thought of this easy way to cut energy use in fridges?" I suspect they probably have thought of this. But to me, this is one of those ideas that looks good on paper. The obvious main problem here is usability. Freezers work in this configuration because everything you put in them roughly turns into bricks that stack on each other without damage. This fridge would need all kinds of little compartments and shelves to keep things like produce from going to the bottom and getting squashed. In order to have a fridge with the same capacity as an upright fridge, I suspect you would need quite a bit of floor space. There are practical limits on how deep you can make a fridge without it being difficult to use. It's probably fine if you're a single person and don't have a lot of stuff. But what about for a family? Finally, many kitchens have a "spot" for a fridge, and anything that doesn't fit there, needs to go somewhere else. It's likely there likely isn't going to be enough floor space.

swombat 17y ago
I was going to say the same thing. There are numerous obvious reasons, from convenience to conventions, why this is not a practical solution. The problem, as they say, is not a technical one.
- tdoggette 17y ago
  No, I think the author is right when he says "you just need a way for drawers to slide up, so you can access the depths without leaning down into a huge box." I think it's a solvable design problem that could turn into a viable product with a bit of cleverness.
  - swombat 17y ago
    That doesn't solve the problem that the space commonly allocated to fridges in the vast majority of kitchens is vertical, not horizontal. It certainly wouldn't be workable in any of the flats I've ever lived in, only in spacious houses.
  - jodrellblank 17y ago
    You just need a way for drawers to slide up, without using up the electricity saved by this change, or being too heavy. or using too large a counterweight system or being to weak.
beza1e1 17y ago
I'd think of a design like a file cabinet with every drawer being its own fridge. This way you can even set different temperatures. The stacking is variable so suitable models for every kitchen should be possible.
- swombat 17y ago
  That's a smart idea, but wouldn't that require several compressors instead of one? (one per fridge)
  - a-priori 17y ago
    You could probably get away with one if you duct the cold air into each compartment, with a valve on each one. The valves would be opened and closed as needed to maintain the temperature in each compartment. When at least one is open, the compressor turns on; when all are closed, it shuts off.
    - swombat 17y ago
      Here's a crazy idea: could you design a house this way? Perhaps, for very hot climates, houses should be designed so that the air can only escape upwards, which would severely reduce cooling costs? (most likely, they already are...)
- pbhj 17y ago
  Draw fridges are available now in the UK and elsewhere (Google Images for "draw fridge" shows several different configurations. I imagine a lot of the benefit is lost with a drawer as the air turbulence from opening the draw (like opening a large freezer lid quickly) will drag out the colder air. If you have to remove half the stuff (chest freezer) to get to what you need then the fridge will be open longer and the items removed will gain more heat energy from the surroundings. Could still be a net benefit though.
jnorthrop 17y ago
They do make something like that, they are just VERY expensive. http://www.ajmadison.com/b.php?Ntt=fridge+drawer&x=19&y=4&Nty=1&mv_pc=gg&mv_ca=genref&gclid=CLu2r57fqpwCFQxM5QodWjoflQ http://www.ajmadison.com/b.php?Ntt=fridge+drawer&x=19&#3... While the drawer isn't quite an "open from the top" option, it is much more usable.
onreact-com 17y ago
You just offered a solution for the problem you outlined: "This fridge would need all kinds of little compartments and shelves to keep things like produce from going to the bottom and getting squashed." So the problem is solved :-)
- jhancock 17y ago
  some users would be happy with this. but you bring the gravity back into the equation. this time putting it on the user to lift things up and down. in the vertical frig, the drawers slide out more effortlessly. I love this horizontal fridge idea. Its good to see people thinking outside the box ;). But it only works for the early adopters with strong backs.
arfrank 17y ago
I recall reading somewhere that they are more commmon in Japan. I can't find the link of that page, but it led me to a conversion someone did from an old chest freezer. http://green-change.com/2009/05/23/chest-fridge-conversion/ http://green-change.com/2009/05/23/chest-fridge-conversion/ Based on their numbers it was ~10x more efficient.
jodrellblank 17y ago
How about an upright fridge with a glass inner-door? If the problem is opening the fridge to browse, and a transparent fridge is too unsightly, then a transparent door with an outer door would allow browsing without blowing all the air away. Otherwise, an upright fridge split vertically down the middle. You pull the whole compartment out and apart, like snake jaws on their side. You have two sides, each facing you, each able to be like a normal fridge door - with covered compartments. Each shallow enough for easy browsing, positioned well enough for reaching the back, deep enough to be useful.
- catch23 17y ago
  How about a normal fridge, but with a small fan at the bottom that pushes the cold air into a bag before you open the fridge? Fans are relatively low power, the only issue is that we'd have to detect someone opening a door. We could have a automatic sliding door that is button operated, then we can have the fridge open when the cold air has been sucked into the bag. When the door closes, we exhale the cold air from the top of fridge, pushing the normal air out the bottom. The fridge would operate similar to an airlock would, only using cheaper fans since we don't need to change air pressure.
clistctrl 17y ago
what if you avoid having the door open all together and take the concepts of warehouse robots and integrate them into your fridge, i'm sure the robot could maximize the space a lot better too. An added bonus you would also have a full list of your fridges contents. the way i see it working is you have a fridge then some smaller box where you insert the item which passes through an airlock type thing where mr robot places your things away.

by JunkDNA 17y ago

swombat 17y ago

I was going to say the same thing. There are numerous obvious reasons, from convenience to conventions, why this is not a practical solution. The problem, as they say, is not a technical one.

tdoggette 17y ago
No, I think the author is right when he says "you just need a way for drawers to slide up, so you can access the depths without leaning down into a huge box." I think it's a solvable design problem that could turn into a viable product with a bit of cleverness.
- swombat 17y ago
  That doesn't solve the problem that the space commonly allocated to fridges in the vast majority of kitchens is vertical, not horizontal. It certainly wouldn't be workable in any of the flats I've ever lived in, only in spacious houses.
- jodrellblank 17y ago
  You just need a way for drawers to slide up, without using up the electricity saved by this change, or being too heavy. or using too large a counterweight system or being to weak.

beza1e1 17y ago

I'd think of a design like a file cabinet with every drawer being its own fridge. This way you can even set different temperatures. The stacking is variable so suitable models for every kitchen should be possible.

swombat 17y ago
That's a smart idea, but wouldn't that require several compressors instead of one? (one per fridge)
- a-priori 17y ago
  You could probably get away with one if you duct the cold air into each compartment, with a valve on each one. The valves would be opened and closed as needed to maintain the temperature in each compartment. When at least one is open, the compressor turns on; when all are closed, it shuts off.
  - swombat 17y ago
    Here's a crazy idea: could you design a house this way? Perhaps, for very hot climates, houses should be designed so that the air can only escape upwards, which would severely reduce cooling costs? (most likely, they already are...)
pbhj 17y ago
Draw fridges are available now in the UK and elsewhere (Google Images for "draw fridge" shows several different configurations. I imagine a lot of the benefit is lost with a drawer as the air turbulence from opening the draw (like opening a large freezer lid quickly) will drag out the colder air. If you have to remove half the stuff (chest freezer) to get to what you need then the fridge will be open longer and the items removed will gain more heat energy from the surroundings. Could still be a net benefit though.

jnorthrop 17y ago

They do make something like that, they are just VERY expensive. http://www.ajmadison.com/b.php?Ntt=fridge+drawer&x=19&y=4&Nty=1&mv_pc=gg&mv_ca=genref&gclid=CLu2r57fqpwCFQxM5QodWjoflQ http://www.ajmadison.com/b.php?Ntt=fridge+drawer&x=19&#3... While the drawer isn't quite an "open from the top" option, it is much more usable.

onreact-com 17y ago

You just offered a solution for the problem you outlined: "This fridge would need all kinds of little compartments and shelves to keep things like produce from going to the bottom and getting squashed." So the problem is solved :-)

jhancock 17y ago
some users would be happy with this. but you bring the gravity back into the equation. this time putting it on the user to lift things up and down. in the vertical frig, the drawers slide out more effortlessly. I love this horizontal fridge idea. Its good to see people thinking outside the box ;). But it only works for the early adopters with strong backs.

arfrank 17y ago

I recall reading somewhere that they are more commmon in Japan. I can't find the link of that page, but it led me to a conversion someone did from an old chest freezer. http://green-change.com/2009/05/23/chest-fridge-conversion/ http://green-change.com/2009/05/23/chest-fridge-conversion/ Based on their numbers it was ~10x more efficient.

jodrellblank 17y ago

How about an upright fridge with a glass inner-door? If the problem is opening the fridge to browse, and a transparent fridge is too unsightly, then a transparent door with an outer door would allow browsing without blowing all the air away. Otherwise, an upright fridge split vertically down the middle. You pull the whole compartment out and apart, like snake jaws on their side. You have two sides, each facing you, each able to be like a normal fridge door - with covered compartments. Each shallow enough for easy browsing, positioned well enough for reaching the back, deep enough to be useful.

catch23 17y ago
How about a normal fridge, but with a small fan at the bottom that pushes the cold air into a bag before you open the fridge? Fans are relatively low power, the only issue is that we'd have to detect someone opening a door. We could have a automatic sliding door that is button operated, then we can have the fridge open when the cold air has been sucked into the bag. When the door closes, we exhale the cold air from the top of fridge, pushing the normal air out the bottom. The fridge would operate similar to an airlock would, only using cheaper fans since we don't need to change air pressure.

clistctrl 17y ago

what if you avoid having the door open all together and take the concepts of warehouse robots and integrate them into your fridge, i'm sure the robot could maximize the space a lot better too. An added bonus you would also have a full list of your fridges contents. the way i see it working is you have a fridge then some smaller box where you insert the item which passes through an airlock type thing where mr robot places your things away.