Propane Fridge & Wind Power Experiment

Thanks Seth, we have considered that, would probably have to make one though, the few that are available to buy tend to be expensive.

I did read of a fellow that took a standard chest freezer and turned it into a very efficient fridge by adding an external thermostat. www.treehugger.com/files/2005/07/man_retrofits_f.php thermostat
interesting reading
Seth

May 12, 2008 9:51 PM

Thanks, great minds think alike, I’ve seen that one already, good site though, food for thought! Keep ’em coming… :)

Hi Wretha; having used a couple of propane refrigerators, I can heartily recommend finding another way. In my experience, they just use too much propane. Granted, I was using old RV fridges (I tried 3 different ones) so YMMV.
The homebrewing supply houses (morebeer.com, for example) have a thermostatic controller for about $60 that can be used to control a chest freezer. I would add a small fan inside (to run only when the compressor cycles) to prevent stratification.
The money you would save by doing this, compared to the price of a fullsize Dometic or whatever, would buy at least a couple of 60 watt PV panels; which would probably cover the electricity usage of the fridge, and then some.

May 13, 2008 10:53 AM

Hi Tracy, I’ll look into that, thanks! I realize that I forgot to mention that we will be getting the propane fridge nearly free, it’s a used unit in a friend’s unused trailer. I haven’t seen it, I know nothing else about it, not even sure how free it will be, we may trade a carton of cigarettes or something like that. Hopefully I’ll know more by the weekend.

I have some ideas for my propane fridges. One possibility is rejetting it to work on methane gas, with a digester to produce the gas. That would work well at my homestead in the Southeast, where you plant watermelons by throwing the seeds & running for your life.
For my Terlingua land, a better idea would be to use a Fresnel lens to concentrate solar power onto a copper heat sink (painted black) which is connected to the refrigerant boiler.

May 13, 2008 10:32 PM

Tracy, throw watermelon seeds and run for your life? That’s funny!

Dragon sent me your way and I am glad he did. I love the cordless drill wind generator idea and would love to know more about how it is working for you. Always looking for ways to generate some power. Great Blog

May 15, 2008 3:41 PM

Hi Scavenger, welcome to my ramblings… I’m glad you like it.

Not to rain on your parade but from the couple of propane refrigerators that I have had, they just don’t work to well, cooler than room temperature, but not what I would call cold. Perhaps that is the best way to put it, they make things cool, not cold. Granted these were older “full size” fridges.

Opps, forgot to mention the idea of using an alternator for a wind generator. I have never tried it, but 25-30 years ago it was the hot idea.

Panhandle Tex, I’ll let everyone know how it goes with the propane fridge. We are still working on the wind systems, I’ll post more about things as they happen.

Couple more comments: First, my RV propane fridges would freeze the entire interior, even in 100 degree weather, if you cranked them up. They just used a lot of gas doing it.
Second, about automotive alternators: not a good idea unless you rebuild them into PMGs. In stock form, they are less than 50% efficient. Somebody tried to tell me that, but did I listen? Nooo, I had to find out the hard way, just like everything else.

May 16, 2008 2:48 AM

Hey Wretha,

Hi Jeff, welcome to my ramblings… :) I’m not sure when we will actually do something with the Ryobi drill wind generator, it’s been set aside for now so that we can finish the bedroom and deck addition to the cabin. We have guests coming next month and more the month after that, gotta get things done around here so our guests can have a good place to lay their heads. As soon as we pick up the windmill project again, I will be sure to write about it.

Wretha,