Energy Family Part 2 - Harnessing Winter

• energy
• renewable resources
• fuel cells

The author built this cold box to replace his refrigerator during the winter--saving about 1 kilowatt-hour every day.

Read PM's Energy Family Blog written by Ben Hewitt.
Print story Part 1 - "Living Unplugged"

Since the fall of 2005, my family has been on a quest to reduce our dependence on external energy sources in our northern Vermont home. We've been documenting our journey both in the magazine ("Living Unplugged," Dec. 2005) and on my blog at PopularMechanics.com. One of the biggest drains on our electricity supply--which comes from solar power supplemented by a gas-powered generator--is refrigeration. When we first moved onto our land in 1998, all we had was a Coleman cooler fed with blocks of ice from a local store. After a year we were given a small propane fridge ripped from an RV. (The tiny freezer just fit a couple of pints of Ben & Jerry's Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough.) Five years later, we finally bought a real, 14.9-cu.-ft. Hotpoint refrigerator. It was chosen because a) it boasted an Energy Star rating and b) it cost only $400. The fridge uses about 380 kilowatt-hours annually.

Our 1.1-kilowatt photovoltaic system has proved robust enough to run the fridge about eight months of the year. But it falls short come late autumn, when the days become briefer and the cloud cover increases.

There's an irony to the situation: Up here near the Canadian border, the short days are accompanied by a deep drop in temperature. My wife, Penny, deserves credit for connecting the dots: Why not use the cold weather to cool our food? We could design and construct an insulated cold box, and attach it to the outside casing of an exterior door that's ideally located next to our conventional fridge. The door is rarely used, as it's intended to provide access to a summer porch that doesn't yet exist. In other words, it's pretty much useless for anything else, and even when we do get around to building that porch (I'm thinking this summer, although I thought the same last summer), we won't need to access it during the winter. Smart, huh?

• For background information on how solar cells work, click here.

11. RE: Energy Family Part 2 - Harnessing Winter
Dundurn Castle in Hamilton Ontario used to have a pit about 20 feet deep x 10 x 10 which would e filled with ice from Hamilton bay in the winter and covered with straw. They had ice cream and air conditioning throughout the summer.

10. RE: Energy Family Part 2 - Harnessing Winter
I wonder how practicle earth sheltered housing would be up there in the north? Down here in the south its ideal. But we down have snow drifts like you do.

9. RE: Energy Family Part 2 - Harnessing Winter
We have an attached cold box. It is called a garage, we have been putting leftovers from Thanksgiving and Christmas in our garage for generations. We monitor the tempeture with a simple thermometer. During the winter months in Western Kansas the garage rarely freezes and rarely gets above 40F. Put your "cold box" on the shadey side of the house with a concrete floor = thermal mass.

8. RE: Energy Family Part 2 - Harnessing Winter
I have 4 cabins in Big Bear Lake, CA that are leased out. I purchase and resell propane to our tenants @ cost, $3.00. The tenants want to spilt the cost of installing wood burning stoves and would like for me to look into it for them. A friend of mine said he saw something in you magazine before in regards to inexpensive stoves. How can I find more info on this? Thank you, anselmo

7. RE: Energy Family Part 2 - Harnessing Winter
To improve your refrigeration economics, extend the radiator (& connecting tubes) of your current refrigerator outside of the house. This will dump unwanted heat outdoors in hot weather and will gain free cooling in cold weather.

6. RE: Energy Family Part 2 - Harnessing Winter
Website: http://www.popularmechanics.com/home_journal/home_improvement/2422966.html?page=2
Another way to "harness" the free energy of winter? Why not fill an empty plastic gallon or two-liter container about 3/4 full with water (to allow space for expansion) and place it outside until frozen. Put the container of ice in the refrigerator and let the dissipation of the colder ice help keep the temperature in the appliance cooler? A second container (or more containers) can be rotated between the outside and the refrigerator. You won't get rich with the energy savings, but you won't break the bank trying.

5. RE: Energy Family Part 2 - Harnessing Winter
Talking fridg and power: we noticed lately that the frid. light stayed on. Pushed on the door and the light dissapeared from the small crack. Problem solved ? NO! Checked latter and the 60 watt bulb was too hot to hold. This GE fridg had a defective switch. The fridg would run and run no end! Since when? Who knows? We now have no light in our fridg.

4. RE: Energy Family Part 2 - Harnessing Winter
Do you know where I can find plans to build my own vertical axis turbine? Thanks pete

3. RE: Energy Family Part 2 - Harnessing Winter
Good on yer - I'll be most impressed if you can get rid of the propane and survive. Would you like me to write about Diurnal Difference Air Engines? That might provide modest mechanical energy from the type of apparatus normally used for solar water heating, plus some bulky, preferably water-filled, heat and cold storage tanks. The Energy Family house might be a fair location to trial one.

2. RE: Energy Family Part 2 - Harnessing Winter
Just a question. What is your water system?

1. RE: Energy Family Part 2 - Harnessing Winter
I find what your doing and what youve accomplished quite amazing! I've had an idea for wind power for years, just have never put it together. It could help your venture. All it involves is a couple of gm altinators and some of those cheap yard windmills the right pully ratio and presto, some dc power. Check into it for me Your doing great by the way.

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