Freezerator Update

Have everything now for the system with the exception of the inverter and battery. The freezer went on sale just after I made the last post and I got it for just over $100.00 off the original price of $499.99. Got the solar panel from ebay along with the updated thermostat. The charge controller is a cheaper unit from Harbor Freight but does the job.

The freezer worked great as a freezer and after putting in the new thermostat, it appears to work great as a refrigerator as well. According to my kill-a-watt meter it draws just under 8 amps for a few seconds at startup and then drops to 1.2 amps. It only runs about 5-6 minutes each hour and after running it for

A New Freezerator In Our Future?

One of the main things we will have to deal with in Oklahoma from the day we get there is we will have no electric service. Now I myself don't see that as a negative and at this point neither does the wife. Of course we can't go without power at all which leaves us with solar, wind, and propane. The main topic of this post however is food and refrigeration.

Old Abandoned Root Cellar

Our main source of food storage will be in the form of a root cellar. I figure if storing food underground worked before electricity was around it should still work just fine.

What we plan on doing is digging what can be considered a combination root cellar / storm shelter as our first major project when we get there. It's tornado country so a storm shelter is an absolute must, especially since we'll be living in a tornado magnet travel trailer until the house is built. Of course now that it's also earthquake country it'll need a little more reinforcement than I originally planned, but that's okay.

The layout of our property being on the hill means it'll be easier to dig into the side of the hill for the cellar/shelter so it'll be a bit bigger than the standard root cellar. My goal would be for us to be able to have hammocks up that we could sleep in in the event of a bad stormy night.

Inefficiency On Display

Of course you're probably still wondering what the heck is a freezerator? Before I answer that, let's cover why the need for a freezerator exists.

Basic thermodynamics is that hot air rises and cold air falls. By design then the standard front door refrigerator is inefficient. When you open the door, all the cold air you've spent money on creating has now been instantly turned into a foot chiller. It may be really convenient, but in a time where we all need to conserve a little more and save some of those hard earned slave wages, we could do better.  Have you ever wondered why they can keep food in the store in refrigeration units with no lids? It's because the cold air stays inside and they're actually cheaper to run than those with the glass doors. The real question though is how inefficient are standard upright units?