Use the outside air to refrigerate our foods?
We hear it all the time about how much energy our refrigerators use, especially if using an older model. But little attention seems to be given to the fact that we put refrigerators into buildings that, in the winter time, are heated, even though there is free cold air outside. Some climates even have cold temperatures year round and could really take advantage of the cold air.
No, I’m not saying that we should store our cold items outside during cold months: much of it would freeze that is supposed to stay at refrigerator temperatures (aside from myriad other complications that need not be listed here). But I am suggesting that we can and should take advantage of cold temperatures nationwide.
How do we do that?
Well, somewhere, whether built into a wall, a cabinet, or in a basement or utility closet area, an insulated chamber would be allowed to monitor and draw cold air from outside as needed. The air could be pumped into the unit with a fan, filtered as it enters the home, mixed with indoor air or slowly released into the refrigerator or freezer in small quantities (the air would be piped into the unit) with the use of a thermostat controlling temperature so as to make sure correct optimal temperatures are maintained.
A thermostat would also be set to stop accepting air from the outside when it would be detrimental (meaning, too high of a temperature) to the operation of the refrigerator or freezer. The refrigerator or freezer unit’s compressor could then seamlessly kick back into gear to keep the temperature optimal. In this way, users would not have to watch for unexpectedly warm days or for change-of-season days with large temperature swings.
“But no one is going to go to that much trouble to save a few bucks on refrigerator operating expenses…”
Oh no? What about icemakers in our freezers? Those have grown to the point that the plumbing now comes almost standard in most homes, because it saves people so much time from filling and emptying ice cube trays and the frustrations of running out of ice. The convenience is great! But how much of a niche product and plumbing offering was that when it first launched? Yeah, and now it’s pretty much standard.
If you tell people that for a few hundred dollars they can greatly increase the efficiency of their refrigerators and improve their envirohuman impacts, some certainly would do so. It would become even cheaper as these units and the necessary infrastructure could be built into new and renovated homes. Refrigerators could come standard with plugged openings that could be employed for such uses, much as they now do with ice maker capabilities.
It was not so long ago that refrigerators did not have ice maker potential built into the units and slowly it became the norm because homeowners had the ability built into their homes. Many come with the ability to add an icemaker unit, and the same type of “add-it-if-you-want” option could be used initially for this technology.
Just imagine how cheap the feature could be if the refrigerators had a small chamber added onto the unit near the bottom or on the back of the unit for such operation. All you would need is a pipe nearby that had access to the outside with a built-in fan and filter, and you would be in business.
Homeowners choose such options all the time: think about not only the ice makers most people now use, but also units to remove radon gas from basements. They are increasingly choosing solar electric or water heating systems, as well as other greener options, that are often costly upfront but eventually payoff both financially and environmentally. Wind turbines are becoming more common on peoples’ roofs and properties, and a box on the back of a refrigerator would seem like nothing to that type of consumer.
How about commercial refrigeration?
Yes, think about all of the meatpacking and cold products industries, not to mention restaurants and grocery stores, that use huge industrial refrigeration units for keeping large quantities of foods cold. Wow, what a savings for both the country and those businesses, in terms of pollution, energy, and cost savings! Yes, it depends upon the climate and the time of year, but for many businesses, this may be yet another way to cut costs by improving their envirohuman impacts.
Now, if we could just get a major appliance manufacturer to put the same genius marketing behind that which launched that time-saving icemaker found in so many homes.
I just read an article about new software, made available for free through Microsoft, the nonprofit Climate Savers Computing Initiative, and Verdiem, a startup. It sounds great, especially when you look at some of the statistics they provide.
