Mitticool Clay refridgerator

I ran across this on pinterest ( I really have a love affair going with pinterest) and was greatly intrigued.



unfortunately I don't think they are available for purchase in the U.S. The closest thing I could find to this was one of those terra cotta pot coolers with the sand. Sorry, I can't recall the name. Might be fun to play around with making one of these for ourselves. Any ideas?

I remember finding these guys a few years ago while researching evaporative refrigeration. I had been hoping they would eventually have dealers in the US, but I haven't seen it happen yet. Every so often I check into their website just in case. I imagine you could probably commission someone in the US to build similar things. Probably at a high cost, but still.

so what makes it work and at what temps?

As I understand it, these are a variation of an evaporative cooling system. The Terracotta is full of tiny pores. The inner layer is something that transfers heat quickly and easily. Between the two is a medium such as sand that holds and somewhat spreads moisture. Water is added and then wicks through the pores in the terracotta. As it does, it evaporates and cools. Heat inside is slowly pulled out along with the evaporating moisture.

If I remember right, the temperature is less important than the relative humidity. Anywhere a swamp cooler would work, these should.