Giving up on my chest freezer to main fridge conversion.

softdown · March 12

Chest freezers only work when you fill them up and then slowly empty them. This is not what we do with refrigerators.

For a while I was able to keep the chest freezer to fridge conversion working ok. That went bye-bye due to prepping and the need to stuff it with more food. Food under the top layer no longer gets touched. A lot of cheese may be getting bad.

I am now considering a 6 cu. ft. LG inverter refrigerator with small freezer. 210 kWh/annual energy seems acceptable enough. Costs between $400 and $500.

All my links get mod deleted so - no link provided. Available at HD and Costco etc.

BB. · March 12

I have not edited out links in a post for years--Other than a couple spammy ones (not from you that I recall).

My rule is if the links are useful to the discussion, then they are OK. Don't really like links to "sales" as they tend to be short term (days/weeks) and really don't address technical discussions (that we tend to do here). And there are the guys in (typically) India posting links to Florida roofers and solar installers.

When I was using a chest freezer as an environmental chamber, I used a couple muffin fans to pull cold air from the bottom and circulate to the top--That may help mix of short/longer term storage and equalizing temperatures throughout the cold space.

Use smaller fans, and you are looking at 5 Watt +/- motors, and you could even reduce energy "injected into the cold space" by connecting to the thermostat and/or using timers (on for an hour to two, off for a bit, etc.).

Lastly, modern refrigerator/freezers seem to have pretty short life before failing. LG is a big player here...

1. Lots of compressor failures, settled a class action lawsuit for 2014-2017 products.
2. Newer compressors/cooling systems have seem to be failing often with current production
3. LG pulled a "wonderful" legal move. They printed a consumer label that said customers agree to mandatory arbitration on the outside of the shipping box (among other places like the manual). No pre-sale notifications(?).

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=lg+sued+for+refrigerator+compressor+failures&ia=web

-Bill "moderator" B.

Marc Kurth · March 12

If you are storing for the long term, it is important that your freezer can hold an internal temperature well below 0F. The USDA says that beef, chicken, and many other foods have an "indefinite" shelf life when vacuum sealed and always held below 0F. Yes, I realize that the low temps use more energy, so it's a trade-off for longevity and food safety/quality.There is a world of difference between "keeping it frozen" and holding at well below zero!

Both of my little 6-7 cu ft chest freezers cycle between -10F and -20F. I use a simple, low cost ($79.00) vacuum sealer to avoid freezer burn. I recently cooked a 3+ year old beef brisket that had no hint of being "old." I told everyone before serving it, so they were ready to be critical, but nobody could tell.

JRHill · March 17

We have been pondering and need a new outdoor fridge for some time now. Buying an upright is almost impossible without having a freezer and we don't need more freezer space. Finding a refrigerator only unit is about impossible and seems 'special purpose' so if I can find one it is inordinately expensive compared to a unit with a freezer. So I have been pondering a smaller upright deep freeze with an INK BIRD thermostatic switch. The Ink Bird also has a programmable time delay that can protect the compressor from cycling too fast since it is disconnecting the power cord. And I can use the same switch to control the little PTC heating element which works perfect to add enough heat to keep the unit from freezing up in the winter. I also like the idea of the deep freezer 'converted' for fridge duty as there is no circulation fan under/behind the unit and the coils are within the case and not exposed to get clogged from mice or debris.

Our Maytag energy star chest freezers inside are well insulated and run very low wattage which is an absolute priority. The PTC heating element is only around 25 watts so that fits the bill as well.

Is this kind of along the way of how others have worked a deep freeze for additional fridge space? If someone has experience doing the above is a little pancake fan recommended for the inside to circulate air movement?

Dave Angelini · March 17

I see these all the time at depot and costco. Change your search wording. Freezerless refrigerators

If someone asks me about this for offgrid I tell them they need more solar, battery or a closed loop charge to get it done 40% faster.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Frigidaire-33-in-20-cu-ft-Freezerless-Refrigerator-in-White-with-Temperature-Alarm-and-Auto-Close-Door-FRAE2024AW/325646357

Good Luck!

JRHill · March 17

Thanks Dave. Just what the Dr ordered to keep the beer, veggies and leftovers cold.

softdown · March 21

Sam's has a Haeir 9.8 cu ft fridge or freezer at 80 off. About 275 kWh. Going to try it.

They had a much smaller unit for about 1/2 price but about same energy usage. A cheap energy hog.

Real small fridges are usually cheaply made and energy hogs considering size.

Wheelman55 · March 21

Hit the “+” sign in the lower right to start a new discussion. Works with my iPhone. Best of luck🙂

BB. · March 21

Also works with my Android phone...

-Bill

softdown · March 21

Correction. It consumes 327 kWh. Still pretty decent for an economical 9.8 cu. ft. unit.

JRHill · March 22

Dave Angelini said:

I see these all the time at depot and costco. Change your search wording. Freezerless refrigerators

If someone asks me about this for offgrid I tell them they need more solar, battery or a closed loop charge to get it done 40% faster.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Frigidaire-33-in-20-cu-ft-Freezerless-Refrigerator-in-White-with-Temperature-Alarm-and-Auto-Close-Door-FRAE2024AW/325646357

Good Luck!

Bought the fridge at HD on yesterday's run to town. If there was any problem with the purchase it was not being able to get any discounts and in delivery, in which the delivery truck would have to be all wheel drive to get here. The guy finally figured out he could use the store's address as the delivery point. Duh.

softdown · March 22

I got the largest Samsung at 75% off last year. As memory serves I had to remove a 36” door and wriggle it in and still scuffed it. Probably not a great deal after all but who could resist 75% off on a new unit?

JRHill · March 28

Dave Angelini said:

If someone asks me about this for offgrid I tell them they need more solar, battery or a closed loop charge to get it done 40% faster.

Dave, I've meant to ask what this means?

Dave Angelini · March 28

You are adding more refrigeration load to a winter sun challenged system, right?
The fix, to me, is either more battery, more solar, faster charging, or a combination. FRIDAY ! Soon !

JRHill · April 2

Dave Angelini said:

You are adding more refrigeration load to a winter sun challenged system, right?
The fix, to me, is either more battery, more solar, faster charging, or a combination. FRIDAY ! Soon !

Ah, OK, I get it. I have pondered this issue for years. With the winter cloud cover there is no amount of panels I could add, practically speaking, to generate enough power from the sun (or lack thereof). Then for the other nine months the 15 panels that I currently have are more than sufficient. So the way I approached the challenge was to add excess battery storage. When I went with LP04 I originally installed three of the 3.8-48 Phis and pretty quickly fell in love with them. The three blocks were generously sufficient for one generator run per day. But if I had one fail prematurely I wouldn't want to try getting by with two so I added a fourth block at the two month mark. With this approach the bank has an easy life and I neither charge them full and rarely drop below 65% before the next generator run.

This is where the 48vdc blocks really shine out, to me. With lead the only way I could've expanded without parallel strings would've been to go to 2vdc blocks. And then I'd still have the original problem of neither loading or charging them to 'keep the juices' stirred up which was a major longevity problem for me over the years with lead. With the four blocks I could and have skipped a day running the generator.

So, yes, you are spot on! LP04 blocks at the system's nominal voltage are absolutely a game changer for our purposes.

Dave Angelini · April 3

Just be careful with planning! Adding batteries can be an issue with firmware, matching cables exactly/ bussbar upgrades, or just the same thing with lead acid, different age batteries not playing well together. There is a time where you trade out an old battery system for new. I have seen this several times already. The loads always seem to go up, do they not?

softdown · April 3

Due to troubling times in the kingdom I continue to prepare for more challenging times. Canned food may last for decades but most of it is neither tasty or particularly healthy. Frozen food is often both healthy and delicious. Easy to run freezers though hot summers may present a challenge.

Last summer was our hottest on record. The largest freezer was usually running. You know how long it takes to empty a huge freezer?

I already have the panels, roof space, and panel racks. So why not?

Space that is cold in the winter tends to be hot in the summer.

Marc Kurth · April 3

softdown said:

Due to troubling times in the kingdom I continue to prepare for more challenging times. Canned food may last for decades but most of it is neither tasty or particularly healthy. Frozen food is often both healthy and delicious. Easy to run freezers though hot summers may present a challenge.

Last summer was our hottest on record. The largest freezer was usually running. You know how long it takes to empty a huge freezer?

I already have the panels, roof space, and panel racks. So why not?

Space that is cold in the winter tends to be hot in the summer.

My wife and I like to eat a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables plus frozen meats and vegetables bought in bulk. Freeze-dried foods for long term are great, but cost too much.

For emergency planning, I'm big on bulk dry goods sealed in mylar bags with O2 absorbers, then nested in 5 gallon buckets. We store a wide variety of beans, rice, grains and powdered products. Canned goods that we are buying today, have "best by" dates 5 years from now. Ideal? No way, but it's a really cheap way to have a 1-2 year "insurance policy" food supply.

Having enough Pv to support a freezer(s) is a must, but an EMP or Carrington-type event could quickly render the system non-functional. Again, dry goods are cheap insurance.

The biggest problem for most people will be water.

softdown · April 10

Critical nature of water is why I have a back up water pump wrapped in aluminum foil. The only item I went to those measures with.

Canned food last for decades but the ingredients will eventually separate and lose some visual appeal.

Now we have to boycott Tyson Foods for kneeling to Schwabs bug eating dictate. Bye, bye chicken. Hello hamburger.

WaterWheel · April 16

About 5 years ago I took an energy star rated upright freezer and using an Inkbird thermostat converted it into something to hold root crops like potatoes and onions for 6 months. I wanted an upright freezer to make it easier to find things but using an upright means you lose some storage capacity and efficiency. Since we only open the unit a few times a week the loss inefficiency was minimal.

After researching the correct humidity for various items including celery and cabbage which the unit was not bought for while the higher humidity of about 75-80% worked great for greens the potatoes and onions did much better at a lower humidity like 45-50% humidity. The charts generally recommended a higher humidity for the root crops but they do better in a lower humidity.

Since it's an upright freezer I put water in the lowest drawer to add humidity back when I was trying for 80% humidity.
When preparing to drill a hole through the side for the Inkbird thermostat I discovered that the unit had cooling lines running through the sides by using a $25 temperature sensing "gun". Glad i did because otherwise I may have drilled through a refrigerant line.

just my 2 cents

JRHill · April 17

Our new porch fridge:

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6024911/uploads/editor/lf/0q6ex35sdr6s.jpg

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6024911/uploads/editor/ew/l2gnqks2wde4.jpg

I couldn't happier. The unit uses trivial power.

Anyone want eggs? Those goose eggs are lucious.

softdown · April 18

I love eggs the superfood. Have yet to see another regular poster within 200 miles.

softdown · April 21

A chest holds maybe 4 times more food though. Mostly air space with an upright.

JRHill · April 22

The only thing with the new outdoor fridge is it gets a bit confused with a 32f morning. I have it ready to go with the thermostatic switch (Inkbird) for the winter heater and its LED temp display is handy. Even though it is advertised as 'garage ready', like garages don't get cold, when the outside temp gets below the mid 30's the unit's internal temp gets a little wonky. In short order that won't be a problem until well into next fall.

Anyway, this is a good thread. A lot of good input!

706jim · April 22

What happens is that the fridge figures it's cold enough inside so goes into standby mode. In the meantime, the freezer section gets warm enough that stuff in there thaws out.
Ask me how I know this...

JRHill · April 23

706jim said:

What happens is that the fridge figures it's cold enough inside so goes into standby mode. In the meantime, the freezer section gets warm enough that stuff in there thaws out.

This is why I was searching for a freezerless refrigerator, plus the fact we don't need more freezer space. I could experiment by plugging the winter heater into the Inkbird to see if it cycles and controls the temperature according to the cold setting when the outside temp gets below mid 30f. But in an off grid situation I can't bring myself to run a cooling device with a heater in it at the same time.

I think it could also be from the unit's controller programming in that there will be cycles for circulation and excess moisture removal. But I'm just guessing. I've had the Inkbird's error tone go off several times in the morning and the internal temp at 29.5 but it's not in that range long enough for anything to freeze. Sure keeps the beer and pop nice and refreshing

Giving up on my chest freezer to main fridge conversion.

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