Energy eficient Chest Fridge - 0.1Kwh / day

I haven't tried but the idea looks great, and these guys explain in detail all you have to do, which is not much.

In broad lines:
Take a chest freezer (the lid is on the top, when you open the fridge the loss of cold is way lesser than a vertical one; the insulation is better than for a fridge).
Bypass the freezer thermostat using a new one to allow cutting off the energy when the temperature is reached.
A little more and you've got it.

Check the original site: http://mtbest.net/chest_fridge.html

The original post is there since 2004, but I haven't seen any ref. to it elsewhere.

I have done it and it's an incredible pain. I life off grid but it was not worth it. It's very hard to access food not on the first layer and so you have to take things out to get to the lower layers whereas a vertical fridge you can just move things aside.

i have mode a similar thing when i converted a small freezer to a kegerator (for homebrewing)

i cant speak to its efficiency, but it wasnt to hard to build.
you basically interrupt the temp probe and install one that shuts the compressor off at whatever temp youd like.

here is an instructables on it:
http://www.instructables.com/id/Convert-a-chest-freezer-to-kegerator-or-fermenter-/

i used a love controller, but would opt for the johnson controls analog controller next time, just for the simplicity of it.
here is the controller i would use: http://www.amazon.com/Johnson-Controls-A19AAT-2C-Temperature-Controller/dp/B0002EAL58/ref=pd_sxp_grid_pt_0_2


i think i will be building another one of these once our cow starts milking as we will need a place to chill milk, and our fridge isnt gonna be enough.

I love to brew beer but hate bottling. I'm glad I found out about the Keezer. Now I can drink to my hearts content without the hard work.

http://billybrew.com/how-to-build-a-keezer

Last march i converted a 5 cubic foot Chest freezer to refrigerator that i bought used locally, i used a 10.00$ mechanical thermostat that i got off ebay and mounted it in the base by the compressor and wired in a light to tell me when the compressor was running( its so quiet that its hard to tell when its running) and i have been very happy so far. i sold the traditional up right fridge/freezer and bought another 5 cubic foot chest freezer to replace the regular freezer.
Doing this saves me around 1 KWH per day ( went from 1.25 KWH down to .20-.25 ), i`m single and live alone so i don't keep much in a fridge most of the time and keep most things frozen when ever possible.

There are some things that are rarely brought up about the conversion in most posts i have read.
1- Condensation is a problem, chest freezers don't have a condensate drain(older ones sometimes didn't even have a defrosting drain)
It builds up fast in humid environments and the more the door is opened and closed. the freezer sits so close to the floor most of the time that there is no place to ad a small drain hose and drip pan.
2- mildew occurs more quickly than with a regular fridge due to the extra humidity inside the unit. Ive read were some have used reusable descant driers that they get from amazon to help combat the problem.
3- it will need to be cleaned more often to combat #1 and #2


I have no complaints so far, about every three weeks i take everything out ( i have build a rack from plastic milk crates and it just lifts out) wipe out the inside with a dish towel and clean it with a little Clorox and water and put everything back in . takes 15 min or less.

I converted another one for my step fathers cabin and it ran 24/7 in the summer with one 350 watt solar panel, 15 amp charge controller,3 12volt deep cycle battery's and a 1500 watt modified sine wave inverter. the cabin is not used in the winter and i doubt we would get enough sun to keep it going anyway with just one panel. but more could be added if the need arose

if i do another conversion, im going to try a 7 cubic foot for the fridge just for the extra space (ʘ‿ʘ)

Chris Fox wrote:I love to brew beer but hate bottling. I'm glad I found out about the Keezer. Now I can drink to my hearts content without the hard work.

http://billybrew.com/how-to-build-a-keezer

careful, the beer disappears a lot faster when its on tap somehow

Randy Voss wrote:
There are some things that are rarely brought up about the conversion in most posts i have read.
1- Condensation is a problem, chest freezers don't have a condensate drain(older ones sometimes didn't even have a defrosting drain)
It builds up fast in humid environments and the more the door is opened and closed. the freezer sits so close to the floor most of the time that there is no place to ad a small drain hose and drip pan.
2- mildew occurs more quickly than with a regular fridge due to the extra humidity inside the unit. Ive read were some have used reusable descant driers that they get from amazon to help combat the problem.
3- it will need to be cleaned more often to combat #1 and #2

this would make sense, as most chest type freezers are not FROST FREE, no frost free freezers (like those generally attached to fridges) also dehumidify.
i prefer the frost free as it helps with preventing freezer burn.

thanks for the input