It has always seemed stupid to me that in winter we have our fridges indoors working hard to cool down the contents, that is being heated up by the central heating system, when the outside temperature is below that of the fridge. Why not simply put the main body of the fridge outdoors with a door in the wall so no energy is used at all; similar to the Smirnoff ICE advert in which Uri opens his fridge doors to the cold arctic conditions outside (but obviously enclosed so that animals don't steal your food).

There would still need to be the traditional fridge components for when the weather warms up but they would be used far less often.
-- BlueGiraffe, Jan 24 2006

If this idea is 'let's store our food outside where it's cooler' then it's not exactly a new one, is it?
-- yamahito, Jan 24 2006


The door to the outside fridge freezes shut in winter.
-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Jan 24 2006


Yeah, may not be exactly new, but is some darned fine thinking for a giraffe! ;-)
-- half, Jan 24 2006


and a cold one at that.
-- po, Jan 24 2006


The problem with the outdoor fridge is that the light only comes on for eight hours a day, and doesn't go out when you close the door.
-- coprocephalous, Jan 24 2006


It will go nicely with my TV, Washer and Camaro already on the lawn.

The idea isn't bad though, how about a duct that circulates to the outside air, sort of like a reverse dryer vent. Some details to be worked out but good job of thinking Green for a Bluegiraffe.
-- Seven, Jan 24 2006


Maybe it could be a revolving fridge on the kitchen wall. Would work well in cold countries. And in summer you would get drinks directly from your balcony when you are having a barbeque without going to kitchen.
-- Pellepeloton, Sep 14 2006


The central complaint seems valid, but recall that all the heat sucked out of a fridge, as well as the work done and wasted in moving that heat, ends up in the air in the house as heat. It may be inefficient, compared to an electric heater, but it isn't as much a waste as it first seems.

You might complain during the summer about dumping all the extracted heat and wasted energy into your air-conditioned home.
-- baconbrain, Dec 01 2010


Strictly speaking, the heating efficiency of a fridge is almost exactly the same as that of an electric heater. The problem is the lack of control over the placement and timing of the release of the heat.

In a house with good passive, or near passive, heating and cooling (such as well placed windows for heating, and evaporative cooling or simple night-time ventilation for cooling), [BlueGiraffe]'s configuration might come out ahead. The (expensive) electrical energy consumed by the fridge would be subsidised by (cheap) environmental energy.
-- spidermother, Dec 02 2010



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