A plastic bottle of ice is easy and cheap to produce and has many uses. Take an empty plastic bottle, fill it to 95% with water, put the cap on, and put it in the freezer overnight. Then you can take it with you on a journey or to work and have a slow-release source of ice-cold drinking water throughout the day. If you are hot, you can use your ice bottle to cool your face and body, and this also accelerates the release of the water.
If you keep several bottles of ice in the freezer all the time, they will help to keep the other freezer contents cold in case of a power failure, and you will always have one to take out when required.
A further benefit is that when placed in a warm, humid room a bottle of ice collects condensation: hence it acts as a dehumidifier, reducing the need for air conditioning.
(I am now using this idea routinely in warm weather. A Google search revealed a few references to the basic idea, but none that mentioned the dehumidifying effect. First published by me on 2009-07-30, updated 2009-09-01: see link.)-- Grim Fun Scenes, Sep 02 2009 (?) Coolants http://www.ccir.ed..../brain/Coolants.htmIdeas for cooling down, including this one. [Grim Fun Scenes, Sep 02 2009] (?) Bottled water http://www.ccir.ed....n/Bottled_water.htmSome thoughts on commercial v DIY bottled water. [Grim Fun Scenes, Sep 02 2009] I could see this reducing air conditioning bills. http://farm1.static..._dd8f4f40da.jpg?v=0 [2 fries shy of a happy meal, Sep 02 2009] and the new idea is? (sound of fanfare, then long silent wait......)
Freezing and storing water in bottles is fine, but don't drink it too often, as there is a link to cancer from the plastic molecules migrating into the water.-- xenzag, Sep 02 2009 Why does everything have to have a link to cancer these days? Can't scientists just concede that absolutely everything in existence, from cosmic rays to kitten tears, can and will give you cancer, no matter what measures you take to avoid it, therefore leaving said boffins more time to test something else?-- theleopard, Sep 02 2009 I admit this isn't entirely a new idea, but I've rarely if ever seen anyone else using it, so I thought it worth posting. Also as I mentioned I haven't found a previous reference to the dehumidifying effect.
Re "don't drink it too often", I've no intention of drinking any given batch of water more than once (with the usual proviso for randomly recycled molecules). And is drinking home-frozen water from a plastic bottle any worse than drinking expensive bought bottled water? (See second link for thoughts on this.)-- Grim Fun Scenes, Sep 02 2009 //Why does everything have to have a link to cancer these days? // Even reading this particular combination of words has been proven to increase your risk of cancer!-- xenzag, Sep 02 2009 //Can't scientists just concede that absolutely everything in existence, from cosmic rays to kitten tears, can and will give you cancer// Kitten tears too, damn. I hope someone told [8/7].-- MisterQED, Sep 02 2009 OK, I suppose I should have anticipated this... In the field of coolants, what is innovative or at least unusual in Scotland (where I live) is not necessarily so in warmer parts of the world! MFD here I come...-- Grim Fun Scenes, Sep 03 2009 The dehumidifying thing doesn't work to any degree you'd notice, but you hit the other uses spot on.
[mfd] quite widely known to exist.
(i'd snicker rudely except I did the same thing yesterday)-- FlyingToaster, Sep 03 2009 Marked for tagline, that last sentence.-- normzone, Sep 03 2009 Dude, people do this all the time, really we do.-- zeno, Sep 04 2009 //when placed in a warm, humid room// ... //in Scotland (where I live) // Make you're mind up.-- MaxwellBuchanan, Sep 05 2009 //what is innovative or at least unusual in Scotland (where I live) is not necessarily so in warmer parts of the world//
Yep! Try working on the grape harvest in France or Italy. There's hardly a person there without a bottle of ice.-- wagster, Sep 05 2009 random, halfbakery